Overwatch:Remnants
by VerBeek
Summary: Follow the Adventures of the RWBY crew, as they grow up in a post Overwatch world, facing new challenges, making new allies and fighting to become the next generation of heroes the world rightly deserves! Expect Action, Romance, Laughter and the Occasional Cry.
1. An Honest Soul

_**Italics mean inner thoughts or telepathy, **_**(Brackets mean Someone Speaking in a language other than English)**

**The Omnic Crisis Ended 25 Years ago, Omnics and Humans now live in a tense peace that teeters every close to the edge as new hostilities arise.**

**Once the Agents of Overwatch would have been there to hold the chaos at bay but after years of bad press, the revelation of Black Watch and the Destruction of it's Swiss Headquarters the Organization was disbanded and any continuation of their work was Outlawed.**

**Further complicating this matter is the rise in Remnants, Humans affected by or born to those who came under the effects of a genetic modification weapon from the end of the Omnic Crisis. Supposedly the work of mad scientists looking for an edge against the Omnics, the HNTR strain has infected about twenty-five percent of the global population. Of that percentage, only five percent ever gain the desired results becoming faster, stronger, hardier and in some rare cases manifest incredible superhuman abilities. As a new generation of Remnants emerge, governments the world over have created institutions focused on learning about and training these young individuals on how to better control their gifts. **

**Streets of New York City 21:04 EST**

The rain beat a gentle rhythm on the pavement around her and the top of her hooded head as Ruby walked down the neon-lit streets. She was dressed in a red hoodie that came to just below her waist, a red-and-black skirt, black stockings, and red-soled, black leather boots. Her red-accented black hair poking out from beneath the hood, framing a petite, pale face that was deep in thought. Her silver eyes caught and contorted the neon as she continued onwards, not really looking at anything in particular.

"_I shouldn't be doing this." _She thought nervously to herself, only for a now-familiar voice to play across her brain, "_Someone has to do something."_

She couldn't remember how many times she'd watched the video now. It could have been anywhere from five to fifty. In either case, Winston's face and words were ingrained in her mind. A message of hope for the future, for change, the return of Overwatch. Her mother would have been overjoyed or at least that's what Ruby wanted to believe. Summer Rose had given her all to Overwatch. Ruby still remembered the years of traveling fondly, seeing the world, watching her mother be a hero but then everything changed

She looked up as a car motored past, catching her fully in its headlights. She was blinded for a moment. When her vision returned she found herself looking up at a defaced mural depicting the original six members of Overwatch, now covered in graffiti in languages both Human and Omnic.

"_Look, the people decided they were better off without us. They even called us criminals!" _

The world had lost faith in Overwatch. Especially with the revelations about Blackwatch but had the world changed for the better after they had been shut down? Images of chaos, the world over, flashed across her mind's eye. Riots in London, Omnic attacks on Russia, terrorist attacks the world over, kids like her disappearing from their homes.

One painful memory stuck out amongst the rest. A personal tragedy that had torn her life apart. Her mother had never stopped wanting to do the right thing. She'd refused to give up the good fight but without Overwatch behind her, there had been no one to get her back up on her feet after she fell for the last time.

Ruby blinked tears from her eyes, rainwater mixing with them as they charted a path down her cheeks.

But things seemed to be changing for the better. Overwatch was back, or so the video she'd found on her Mother's laptop had claimed. Most people on the streets seemed oblivious to it, too caught up in their own lives to notice.

"_We can make a difference again! The World needs us now, more than ever!"_

A shout cut through her inner dialogue, followed by the sound of something colliding with a sheet of metal. More shouts followed, Ruby's entire body vibrating with a jolt of adrenaline and fear.

"_Are you with me?"_

Ruby's silver eyes glimmered in the neon light. She slipped the red bandanna around her neck up around her face and pulled her hood down to nearly cover her eyes. Then she was off, tearing towards the alley where the commotion was coming from at a pace rivaling a professional sprinter.

She slid to a stop near the end of the alley-way as her left foot slammed heavily into a deep puddle, a loud splash echoing off the walls around her.

"Go check that out." A gruff voice ordered, her blood turning to ice for just a moment before kicking into an adrenaline-fueled fire. Looking around frantically, a nearby dumpster caught her eye. Quickly, quietly she darted behind the side facing her and waited as footsteps made their way towards her. She quickly slid out a small pipe from a pouch under the back of her hoodie. Ever so quietly she twisted it, the pipe extending into a slapped together, homemade staff.

She waited, listening to the footsteps getting closer. She fought to keep calm, to focus herself like her mother used to tell her when she was younger. Ruby had been born a Remnant, someone with extra-natural abilities, and right now at this moment she desperately needed them.

The footsteps faded out as the world around her seemed to slow. A soft voice broke resonating as she closed her eyes.

"_You can do it, baby girl, eyes on me okay? I've got you."_

The memory of her mother smiling at her and the comforting sound of her voice sparked something deep inside. Her eyes opened, and she felt the rush of her powers take over.

The goon finally turned the corner, revealing a rather plain-looking man. He wore red sunglasses, a black suit with red accents and a red tie. In his left hand an oversized pistol, with glowing red energy chambers along the side which hissed against the rain. He turned and spotted her, his pistol whirling round to meet her.

He opened his mouth to shout a warning. Ruby struck, moving too quickly for his eyes to follow.

She smacked him in the bottom of the jaw cracking his mouth shut with her "bo-staff. She spun, the air seeming to funnel around her as she kicked him in the temple. The man crumbled to the ground but Ruby managed to catch him before he fully impacted the pavement. With little effort she set him down, removing the gun from his grasp. After looking at it for several moments, she tossed it as quietly as she could into the open dumpster.

Jumping away from the man's unconscious form she darted down the alleyway. The expanse shortened considerably as she sped down it, her feet never touching the ground, her powers shooting her forward like a rocket.

Rounding the corner she found several men and women in similar dress to the person she'd taken down surrounding a tall, thin man. He was dressed in a green business suit. He had gray scruffy hair and small opaque glasses covering his eyes. Clutched in his hand was an ornate cane with a strange clockwork contraption on the handle.

"Alright, hand it over pal and we can go our separate ways." a suave male voice said off to one side. She turned slowly, thankful that so far none of the thugs or the man who was speaking had noticed her. The man in green, however, seemed to be staring right at her. His eyebrow rising ever so slightly.

Standing off to the left, leaning against a wall, looking almost bored was a tall pale man with vibrant orangish-red hair that covered his eyes from this angle. He was dressed in a long white coat with three golden buttons, a black shirt beneath, black gloves that reached up past the wrists, a grey neckerchief, black pants, and brown shoes, one of which was tapping impatiently on the ground. In one hand he held a lit cigar, in the other, a long red-and-black cane spun lazily. Completing the look was the distinct red and black bowler cap perched atop his head.

Ruby scanned the alley and managed to spot another figure, bathed in shadow, kneeling atop the flat roof of the building directly behind the man in green. So far, Ruby felt like she'd gone unseen by everyone by the man in green. Pressing herself to the wall she began to creep her way forward.

She gauged the situation. Not counting the man with the bowler cap and the person in the shadows there had to be ten goons surrounding the man in green. She'd been able to take down one of them, but ten armed individuals, she wasn't so sure.

The man in green reached into his back pocket and held out his wallet, his face impassive.

"Oh, I don't want your money!" the leader said with a laugh, "No, no, I want that."

He pointed at the cane in the man's hand, "So just hand that over Oz, and we'll all go our separate ways."

"That will not be happening." The other man stated, his voice so soft that Ruby could barely hear it, but there was an undercurrent of authority there that set her slightly at ease.

"Tch, tch, I really did want to keep this friendly," the leader stated, with a sigh, "but looks like the Boss will get what they want the hard way."

As the last word left his lips, the goons lifted their guns, pointing them at "Oz's" head. Ruby stepped forward, not looking where she placed her feet and froze as she loudly stepped on a used soda can.

"It's about time you got back." the leader stated, taking a deep pull from his cigar as he turned to look at her, "Did you find what made tha-."

He froze his visible eye, an iridescent green burrowing into her. His goons froze as well, turning to look at her, guns lowering ever so slightly.

The man looked her up and down for a few seconds, before gesturing two fingers at her, "Take care of this."

Two of his goons detached from the mob, stalking their way towards her, one with his gun pointed at her the other with his arm outstretched to grab her.

Feeling that surge of adrenaline kick in once again, she darted forward. Weaving past the first goon to crack the gunman's hand viciously across the knuckles with her staff, she then kicked backward at the unarmed goon catching him viciously in the chest. Both goons recoiled, the first dropping his gun as his knuckles already began to bruise. The other fought to get air back into his lungs. She twirled around, her staff catching the gasping goon in the side of the head while her boot cracked into the other guy's side sending him careening.

The first goon crumpled to the ground dazed, while the other managed to keep his feet before she surged forward like a rocket. He was thrown backward, colliding with the wall across from her with a meaty smack. He fell to the ground moaning slightly but he didn't get back up.

Ruby rounded on the others, the adrenaline coursing through her body, a mixture of fear and excitement making the world seem to slow and speed up at random intervals.

The man with the bowler cap stared at her with an almost impressed expression, "Well, didn't expect to find a Remnant tonight. New plan folks, grab her."

Ruby's eyes widened slightly as all but two of the remaining goons rushed her. Several set their guns aside, pulling out small batons which extended, sparking with electrical energy.

Ruby ducked the first wild swing, catching the attacker's legs with a swift strike from her staff. He went down with a cry of pain as his ankle gave out. She caught another in the arm with a wide swing, her superior speed and reflexes leaving her just a step ahead of her attackers. However, this didn't make her untouchable, she swiftly discovered. Focusing on the two women in front of her, she failed to notice the man she'd hamstrung lunge with his baton catching her in the calf.

Electricity fried through her entire body. A scream pierced the air as she collapsed to her knees, sparking pain locking her muscles down. The other five goons surrounded her, and she felt panic grab her.

"_I'm going to be taken. I'm never going to see my family again. I shouldn't have done this!" _she screamed at herself only for a softer, motherly voice to enter her mind once more, "_You've got this baby girl."_

She felt a surge of energy rush through her entire body, not tied to the searing pain leaching from the back of her calf.

She erupted into a flurry of movement.

Darting out of the ring they'd formed around her, she bounced off a wall and using the momentum to shoulder check one of the goons to the ground. She repeated this again and again, the world around her blurring as she transformed herself into a living ping ball. She finally ground to a halt as the last member crumbled to the ground, aiming a kick at the man who had electrocuted her. The kick sent his eyes rolling as he slumped to the ground senseless. She picked up her staff and turned to look at their leader.

"You were worth every cent, truly you were." the man snarked. He shook his head in disappointment, staring down at their slumped forms. He pulled his cigar from his mouth, dropped it to the ground, and crushed the still-smoking end with the butt of his cane as he walked towards her.

"Well Red, I think we can all say that this has been an eventful evening." the man snarked, smirking at her, "And as much as I'd like to see you continue you're little pinball routine, play times over."

He lifted the cane and she watched in shock as a gun barrel emerged from the bottom and fired out a small capsule that burst into a blinding flash several feet before her. Dazed she stumbled backward, unable to fend off the crushing kick to the gut that followed. Pushed back even further she felt the man grab the scarf that she was using to cover most of her face and using the combined momentum tore it free. Frantically she swatted upwards with the staff, still blinking away black dots.

Her vision came back just in time to see him easily parry the wild blow. His arm pulled back and socked her in the right eye. She winced in pain, falling backward onto her back, her staff nearly clattering out of her hand. She looked up as the cane came down towards her head. She raised her staff to parry the blow, but to her dismay, the amount of damage her staff has sustained along with the strength behind this man's blow cracked it in half.

"Sorry Red really should have minded your own business." the man remarked, raising his cane once more, "Heroes never prosper."

He smirked at his own joke and brought the cane down once more, only for a thinner black cane of metal to interrupt his swing.

"Ahem."

Ruby looked up and over, spotting "Oz" standing there. His glasses were now lowered revealing brown eyes, stern as they stared down her assailant.

The leader seemed shocked and turned back to his remaining men, both of whom were slumped against the opposing wall.

"I'll be cutting in now if you don't mind," Oz stated, pressing the other man's weapon backward, forcing him several steps back.

"The surprises continue." the man snarked.

"Believe me Mr. Torchwick, the surprises will keep coming unless you back down," Oz stated, bearing down on his opponent.

Torchwick's eyes narrowed slightly, "See, I believe you."

The bottom of his cane opened up once more, it fired once, a cloud of smoke following.

Ruby got herself into a crouching position, searching the smoke for any hint of either of them.

The smoke plumed out momentarily. "Oz" leaped out, his glasses pushed up to cover his eyes once more.

"Stay back," he commanded, his voice authoritative but oddly comforting, though he didn't spare a glance at her.

He waited for the smoke to clear slightly, striking out almost as fast as she did to deflect an incoming shot that burned like a fresh flare as it stuck to the wall to their right.

A hook fired out of the cloud of smoke, aimed to catch Oz in the head, who instead grabbed hold of it and pulled. Torchwick stumbled out of cover, shooting him a dark look.

Oz darted forward, holding his cane like a fencing foil, striking repeatedly at Torchwicks torso. The other man managed to block several strikes but for every one he blocked another penetrated his defense.

After one particularly fierce strike caused his arm to fall limp at his side, Torchwick's face contorted in rage and he struck out with blind fury. Oz dodged aside, causing the other man to stumble past him.

Oz struck at that moment. He hooked his cane around Torchwick's neck, and with both hands pulled backward with all his might. To Ruby's surprise, the slight man managed to lift the other off the ground and toss him with incredible force over his back. Torchwick flew a good ten feet before his back slammed into the wall of the building he'd formally had Oz cornered.

Torchwick pushed himself up and glared at his opponent as he stalked forward.

"This has been fun, it really has," Torchwick quipped, through gritted teeth, "But it's time we said our goodbyes."

Ruby started, "_We?" _

Oz stopped, his eyes narrowing pensively. The figure Ruby had previously spotted, forgotten in the heat of the moment, jumped from the roof landing behind Oz. The only thing Ruby could spot clearly was their long mane of pink-and-brown hair.

The figure lunged at Oz, who pivoted, cracking his cane against the figure's head with incredible speed but to Ruby's surprise, they shattered into a flurry of glass-like shards.

Oz spun around, Ruby's eyes following his movement and her stomach sank as she saw Torchwick, whomever he was, was gone.

Oz seemed to give the alley a cursory glance before turning to look at her. She froze, the realization of everything suddenly bearing down on her shoulders.

"_He can see my face!"_ Ruby thought in a panic as he approached. She pulled her hood lower over her face, as she scrambled for the tattered remains of her scarf, "_I should have been more careful! What if he is just as bad as that Torchwick guy! What if he works with the police! What if he's Atlas! I don't want to have to go to Atlas! I could get in so much trouble!"_

"Are you alright?" the man asked, his voice calm and soft, an outstretched hand filling her vision. Her brain's frantic rambling cut to a halt as she tentatively looked upward.

He looked younger up close, but he had a presence about him that made him seem a decade or more older. His brown eyes were friendly, with just the hint of something else hidden behind them.

Ruby didn't say anything, though she did cautiously take his hand. He looked at her quizzically and seemed to speak out loud without meaning to, "You have silver eyes."

Ruby started slightly, even as he helped her to her feet and stepped back several feet. He nodded to himself and then held up the remnants of the scarf she had been searching for.

"Don't worry, miss, you're secret's safe with me." Oz stated, his eyes flashing with green energy for a moment, "Believe me."

"Y-you're a Remnant?" Rub asked in shock, even as she cautiously grabbed the scarf.

Oz merely nodded, the sound of police sirens cutting whatever conversation had been about to begin short.

Ruby froze, looking around fearfully, as the red-and-blue lights of a police car lit up one end of the alleyway.

"You did a very brave thing today miss," Oz stated, turning around almost as if he was trying to block her from view of the oncoming cop car, "But I think it is past time you left."

Ruby didn't need any more prompting. Digging deep to grasp what energy she had left and darted away, feelings of shock and pride carrying her as she fled.

Ruby reached home twenty minutes later, though it had felt like hours as her brain replayed what she had gone through over and over again.

This hadn't been her first night out helping people. She'd stopped purse-snatchers, car robbers, the occasional mugger, but this-this was the first night things had gone that poorly.

"_But, someone had to do it." _Ruby thought to herself as she quietly climbed the stairs up to her apartment, "_Did I though? That 'Oz' guy ended up saving me, so maybe I never needed to get involved in the first place."_

"Too late now," she muttered with a wince, as the growing bruise around her eye pulsed. She looked up and froze. The door to her apartment was already open and standing in the doorway was her elder sister, Yang.

Long blonde hair draped over her shoulders in a hasty ponytail. She was dressed in a slightly oversized grey jacket over an orange tank top and grey-brown cargo pants. She had her arms crossed across her chest and she was giving her younger sister a slightly worried but pretty harsh glare with her deep lilac-colored eyes.

"We need to talk," Yang said, which made Ruby fold in on herself just a little bit.

Several minutes later she was sitting at the kitchen table with an icepack fighting off the swelling on her eye, while Yang was standing by the stove grumbling to herself.

"You can't keep doing this." Yang finally stated, placing a grilled cheese and some hash browns down in front of Ruby. She sat down across from her with her own plate of food, though unlike Ruby who immediately dug in, Yang just stared at her sister.

Ruby looked up from her food, "I-I need to Yang, people need help."

"No, no you don't _need_ to." Yang stated, pointing a finger at her, "You _want_ to."

"Well...yeah why wouldn't I want to help people?" Ruby asked, shooting her sister a questioning look, "Winston said…"

"Ruby!" Yang yelled, cutting off her sister who flinched back a little, "Enough about Winston! His message wasn't meant for you, for me, for anyone in this apartment. You're a kid."

"So! I have powers!" Ruby fired back, her whole body vibrating briefly, "Mom always told us to do our best to help people, just like she did and I-."

"You're going to get yourself severely hurt or killed!" Yang shouted, standing up from her chair, "Can you imagine what that would do to dad?! What it would do to me?"

At that moment her sister's own powers ignited, her hair catching fire as her eyes flashed red. She stood there fuming, her whole body tense.

Ruby sat there stunned, as angry tears began to stream down her face, "I just want to do the right thing! I want to make her proud!"

Yang's anger faded in a rush, as she stared down at her dejectedly, "Ruby…"

Without another word, Yang walked around the table and drew her younger sister into a tight hug.

"I miss her." Ruby stated, tears streaming down her face, "I keep hearing her tell me to keep moving forward, to keep going like she did when I was learning my powers. I just want to make her proud."

"I miss her too. You don't need to come home with bloody lips and black eyes to make her proud." Yang stated, running her fingers comfortingly through Ruby's hair, "You're already a wonderful, kind person sis, and she loved you for that."

"I know." Ruby said, leaning in to rest her head on Yang's shoulder, "I-I just want to help."

"I know, I get it, I do." Yang stated with a sigh, "But you need to promise me, for Dad's sake, yours and mine that you won't go out and play 'vigilante' anymore."

Ruby looked deeply into her sister's lilac eyes, filled with love and worry, "Okay, I-I promise."

She hated herself the minute the words left her lips. She knew she was lying, Winston's words filling her brain once more, "_Are you with me?_"

**The Tower, Chicago, 23:43 CST**

Oz exited the Bullhead as it came to a stop atop a tall building that soared amongst the Chicago skyline, neon holo-signs flashing in the near midnight darkness. He made his way down off the landing pad, and into the glass hallway that led further into the facility he called home.

"Welcome back Sir," Glynda stated with her usual professionalism. She was a tall woman with pale skin, light blonde hair, and bright green eyes. She was dressed in a white pleated shirt and a black button-up pencil skirt.

"How did the mission in New York City go?"

"Unexpectedly," Oz stated, as they fell into step beside each other. They continued down the hallway, reaching an elevator that opened after Ozpin pressed his hand against a panel to it's left.

They stood in silence for several moments as the elevator made its way downward. The doors opened, revealing a circular room lit by dull blue light with glassy black walls. Several tables stood around the room, covered in flashing computer equipment, a black coffee table held a small tablet and a set of mugs, while further along the right-hand wall another set of doors sat closed with another hand-print lock. In the center of the room was a large black desk that appeared to be made of the same material as the walls.

He sat down in the high backed grey chair that sat behind the desk, taking off his glasses and setting them in the center of the featureless plastic desk. There was a chiming sound like that of a clock and the whole table lit up with green light as numerous holographic projections grew to cover the walls.

Glynda gestured with her hand, a tablet floating towards her awaiting hand, as she drew a digital pen from her pocket and waited.

"Roman Torchwick evaded me," Oz stated, gesturing as a video of his fight with Roman from his perspective appeared across several of the screens, while Roman's mugshot appeared on a few others.

"Police reports claim that the agents he used to corner you with might have some connection with one of the Gangs from Brooklyn," Glynda stated.

"Something to look into, though he had another accomplice." Oz pointed out, gesturing to the brief blur of brown and pink movement, "I failed to get a good look at whomever they were."

"Roman's been spotted dealing with a number of black-listed individuals, rogue Overwatch Agents, Mafia, Deadlock." Glynda stated, "I'll have one of our Field Agents follow up on it."

"Good." Oz stated, "Any sighting of the individual who might have hired him?"

"Still unknown, though our Western friend believes they might have connections to Talon," Glynda informed.

"Troubling, so we are still in the dark when it comes to Torchwick's motivations." Oz grumbled, "No matter, tonight was not a total loss."

The young girl dressed in red with piercing silver eyes appeared on screen, showing her capable if sloppy fighting style and her unique abilities.

"This girl came to my assistance, she clearly has the attributes we are looking for," Oz stated, "And I believe I know who she might be."

Another image appeared on screen as Oz flicked his fingers across his keyboard. An older woman with similar hair color and vibrant silver eyes, in fact, the resemblance of the two women was almost uncanny.

The image was from a news site and the tagline read, "Summer Rose, vaunted hero of Overwatch, has died."

"Ruby Rose," Oz stated, turning to look at Glynda, "Who has taken after her mother in more than looks it would seem."

"He won't like getting her involved in all of this," Glynda said pointedly.

"She's already involved, she's the child of a deceased former Overwatch agent and a Remnant." Oz stated, "There is a target painted on her back that she can't even see yet. I would rather she learns how to use her abilities in a safe place than continue to risk her discovery and her _life_ on the streets of New York City."

"I'll make sure someone keeps an eye on her," Glynda stated.

"Please, now how did the strike on Vishkar go," Oz asked, turning to look at his assistant.

"Crow, Lotus, and Valkyrie pulled off the mission with resounding success, though there were some unexpected consequences," Glynda informed.

"Show me," Oz stated, turning to the screens as they once more sprung to life.

**Next time, the Raid on Vishkar, and the arrival of another of Team RWBY. I hope you liked how I did Ruby's fighting style since she can't realistically own a massive war scythe in Overwatch canon…at least not yet. And don't worry Overwatch characters will be making an appearance in a big way soon.**

**Now you might be asking, didn't I just post an RWBY/Overwatch story, but it was set in Remnant, why yes, yes I did! I'm trying out a little experiment, to see which story I end up liking more since I'd been jumping back and forth with setting Overwatch characters in the RWBYverse and vice versa, but hey now you get two stories for the price of one! Which you know is nothing anyway, but hey, Hope you enjoy it, I'll be back with the second chapter as quickly as I can.**


	2. Through the Looking Glass Part I

**Now you might be asking, didn't I just post a RWBY/Overwatch story, but it was set in Remnant, why yes, yes I did! I'm trying out a little experiment, to see which story I end up liking more since I'd been jumping back and forth with setting Overwatch characters in the RWBYverse and vice versa, but hey now you get two stories for the price of one! Which you know is nothing anyway, but hey, Hope you enjoy it, I'll be back with the second chapter as quickly as I can.**

**Last Time on Remnants! **

"_**How did the strike on Vishkar go?" Oz asked, turning to look at his assistant.**_

"_**Crow, Lotus and Valkyrie pulled off the mission with a resounding success, though there were some unexpected consequences." Glynda informed.**_

"_**Show me," Oz stated, turning to the screens as they once more sprung to life.**_

**Now, to this episode's gripping action-packed, high paced, slightly depressing continuation!**

**Chapter II: Through the Looking Glass Part I**

**Location Unknown, 19:16 UTC**

"Again." the voice stated, detached. There was a flash as several sleek drones solidified before her. Ignoring the cold sweat that coated her palms, she rose to her feet.

Weiss Schnee hadn't expected to end up where she was, but as she had been told many times before this was "necessary"_. _She was dressed in a simple blue and white jumpsuit, a white patch of a diamond over a blue uppercase V marking the left side of her chest. Her long white hair was pulled up into a messy side ponytail. Clutching the white wand-like baton in her sweaty hands, she fell into the fencer's stance that had been carefully ingrained in her.

"Whenever you are ready Miss Schnee." the voice stated, Weiss's pale blue eyes narrowed.

"Ready," Weiss stated, breathing in deeply, as she felt the familiar snap of energy course through her body. Gesturing with the Baton, the tip snapped to life leaving a trace of neon blue light in the air.

The drones darted forward, circling around her in a menacing pattern.

A familiar pattern.

Her father's voice erupted into her mind, "_They can help you, to finally get control of this...ability of yours. Control is important."_

Control. That was why she trained every day, battling these drones to get a hold on what strange abilities she'd been born with.

"Begin." the voice stated, causing the Drones, to begin darting around at random, their singular eyes flickering. Five blinks and they would fire, she'd memorized that at this point.

Gesturing with the baton, and focusing intently she felt a calm stillness overcome her before behind her head a spiraling snowflake-like sigil appears in the air made of semisolid blue light, then split into two smaller copies of itself over each shoulder.

One of the drones darted forward, eye flashing for the fourth time. Weiss pointed with the baton, focusing, the snowflake on her right starting to shine and spin. A blast of light flew free and shattered the drone. The pieces flew past her, digitizing as they went.

Twisting as two more darted towards her, she traced a pattern in the air with the baton. Another snowflake erupted to life larger than the others, more solid. The faster drone smashed into it, shattering into pieces which discorporated. The other veered off, nearly bumping into one of its fellows.

The remaining drones' eyes blinked for the fifth time, a beam of energy erupting forth. Twirling away from one blast, she raised her shield, blocking the rest. Small cracks began to appear across its surface, sending a pulsing tension through her spine. Ignoring the sweat beading on her forehead she flicked the baton.

The smaller snowflakes began to spin, glowing along the arms before small bolts fired free, weaving towards the remaining drones. They left light tracers behind them as they went.

The drones disappeared in small detonations of blue light, leaving Weiss alone in the chamber.

"Very good, Miss Schnee." The voice stated, "Beginning the Second Round."

Weiss breathed out, concentrating on the sigils around her, feeling the strange mental tethers that attached them to her. As she did, larger humanoid drones digistructed into existence. They were sleek, their limbs hovering detached from the main body. Still, only one eye sat within their streamline heads, and long batons extended from their wrists. Seven in total, they stood expectantly.

This is where things got interesting, these larger drones were faster and took more hits. Today would be different, she was going to get past this trial, though deep down she dreaded what came next.

This part of the trial wasn't about dealing damage, it was about agility and keen reflexes. Evasion, she'd failed more times than she succeeded, but she felt that today would be another success.

The first of the drones darted forward, baton sparking slightly as it punched towards her. She pirouetted to the side, leaping, concentrating as the three snowflakes disappeared. Beneath her feet another snowflake appeared, pushing her further into the air. As she spiraled upwards the baton in her hand flared with light, a crossguard digistructed into existence, while a long rapier-like blade of neon blue light emerged from the tip. Still spiraling she lunged out, catching the charging drone in the back of the head, the blade piercing clean through. It fell to its knees, dissipating in a flurry of pixels.

_Control_. That is why her father had handed her to Vishkar, that's why for months she had trained and pushed to get where she was now, and it showed.

Platforms appeared underneath her feet as she practically danced into the air. She weaved and dodged like a professional ballerina. She'd always had a talent for dancing, and singing, though she rarely got to pursue either of these passions in her current situation.

When she dug deep in these training sessions however, she could hear an allegro tempo deep in her soul. It moved her body in a dangerous pattern that confounded the attacking drones, and she fought the urge to burst into song even though she had no idea what the words could possibly be.

She opened her eyes in the midst of a midair twirl, lashed out at the Drone beneath her, catching it in the top of the head, ending it in a flurry of pixels. The strange song that filled her head suddenly hit a sharp staccato pattern, and she slid to the side as the baton of one of the drones came down slamming into the floor instead of her back. Flipping backward, she avoided another lunge and jabbed forward with her blade. From the tip a hard light blade shot free, impaling the offending drone.

The four remaining drones darted forward in sync, trying to catch her off balance. The tempo increased and the sigil behind her back began to spiral quicker and quicker before she was thrust forward like a shot out of a cannon. She managed to dodge the drones oncoming strikes, and even spear one through the torso as she rocketed past.

The remaining three drones turned and darted after her, their eyes glowing brighter as the closed in. Weiss slide to a stop raised her rapier into the air and then sank the blade deep into the metal floor. Nothing seemed to happen as the Drones leaped in unison, bringing their batons down towards her head.

Then three sigils sprang to life on the ground before her, shining vibrantly before three almost icicle-like protrusions of hard light emerged and speared clean through each of the drones. The spears and their occupants both dissolved a few moments later, leaving Weiss alone with her adrenaline high and the impassive eyes she knew were watching. A small bubble of anxiety rose into her through at what came next, but she steeled herself all the same.

The back wall flashed and then dissolved in a flurry of hexagons, in its place a pitch-black room. Then an ominous red light blinked into existence, shaped like the visor of a knight's helmet. The head of the immense drone appeared first, the similar sleek lines and rounded shapes but instead of the white plastic-like covering the other drones wore this one was made of space-grey steel. It stood two times taller than her easily, but what was most intimidating was the heavy blade that projected from its right wrist. The Drone stared down at her silently, the singular red eye burrowing into her.

Defense was the mark of this challenge. Keeping the drone from landing a hit on her, not by evading but standing strong against whatever it could throw at her.

She waited for the go-ahead before the drone suddenly surged forward. The massive blade flew toward her face. She narrowly dodged aside, panic leaping into her throat as it swung once more without warning.

This wasn't normal. She'd always had to confirm she was ready for a fight. Fighting with her panic, she concentrated, a wall of hard light appearing to separate her from the seeming berserk drone. Sweat began to drip off her brow as the wall began to thicken and go from clear to opaque like a sheet of ice.

She had this, she could do this, "_Just focus on control, focus on control." _She fought off the old memory that tried to creep in, "_London, seven years ago, gunshots, screaming, approaching metal footsteps."_

As her concentration lapsed, the wall before her shattered. The drone lunged clean through it, the blade heading straight towards her head. Panicked she raised her rapier in defense and felt the hard-light shatter and a searing pain erupt across the left side of her face as she closed her eyes. She felt her head hit the wall behind her, and then the darkness deepened.

"What on Earth were you thinking!" a voice demanded in a light French accent, she flinched slightly at the noise, as cold gloved hands gently probed around her left eye.

"She needed to be prepared for everything." a clipped voice stated back, "She won't get a "ready" in real life."

"Tell that to Schnee, and your superiors." the french voice stated harshly.

"You think you have the merit to report me?" the voice asked, laughing slightly as if this was all some big joke, "You're an Atlas contractor, independent of Vishkar, it would be my word against yours."

"Doctor Kateb might be stonewalled, but I would not be." a calm Indian accented voice stated, her tone just north of biting, "This was an egregious misstep, and I will make sure our superiors know this to be an unshakable fact."

"This is a young girl, that you sir, are acting like is just another experiment of yours." Doctor Kateb stated, "Now if you don't want to see what it looks like when I get _quite_ angry, I would leave. Now."

Weiss tried to push off the Doctor's hand, only for him to calmly admonish her, "Don't move please Madame, I need to examine your wound a bit further."

"Wound?" Weiss asked, suddenly aware of the wet-feeling around her eye, on top of the searing pain.

"When your blade shattered, a piece of it flew towards your face and cut a line across your eye. Luckily it was deconstructing as it flew, so your eye should be fine." the Doctor reassured, "However, I still need to clean the wound, and administered some medication. I'm going to be giving you a light anesthetic to dull whatever pain might occur during this procedure."

"I-thank you," Weiss stated as she felt the sharp prick of a needle in her arm, that swiftly changed to a comfortable numbness as the anesthesia passed through her system.

"Do not thank me, my dear. I am simply doing my job." Kateb stated. Several moments passed as she vaguely felt him probe around her eye with a cloth or sponge, then felt a spray of some form of liquid.

"You can open your eyes now Madame." the doctor stated, "I will need you to hold still for a moment though, I do not believe any damage was done to your eye, but I would like to triple check."

Weiss opened her eyes and felt a wave of relief as both of her eyes took in the scene around her. Sitting directly in front of her was a man with kind brown eyes, pale skin, dressed in blue medic combats, with slight silverish gray armor plating on his shoulders, chest, and knees. His hands were covered by white latex gloves which were reddish-pink at the tips, which she realized with a jolt was her blood. A strange pistol rested on his hip, and a medic bag sat at his side.

Standing behind him was a slightly severe-looking Indian woman, with a blue holographic visor over hazel eyes, dressed in a blue and gold slip dress, with strange leggings, and black high-heels. Her left arm appeared to be robotic, with sleek white metal plating covering blue light and wiring. She was looking down at Weiss with a cool expression, her eyes locked on the left side of her face.

Dr. Kateb pulled out a monocle from his bag, placing it in front of his left eye, leaning in to examine her own, "The choroids seem to be intact, the pupil is dilating properly. To say you got lucky sounds incredibly impolite to my ears, so I will say that all seems well Ms. Schnee."

"Thank you," Weiss said, fighting an urge to bring a hand up to check the wound.

"You would like to see it wouldn't you?" The woman asked stepping forward, her voice tinted with just the faintest hint of pity.

"Satya I-" Dr. Kateb began only for her to raise a hand, still looking down at Weiss, and offering the other.

Weiss stared up at her and cautiously took the offered robotic hand, which pulled her to her feet quicker than she expected, the limb much stronger than it appeared.

Smiling softly the woman stepped back and gestured with the robotic hand a perfect diamond of hard light appeared floating above her palm and then began to enlarge slowly taking on the silvery sheen of a mirror as it did so.

Weiss caught sight of her reflection and gasped lightly at the long thin fresh wound that carved upward from the base of her cheek across her eye and into the hairline. The redness of the scar set her stomach ill at ease, and she let out a sigh of relief now realizing truly how close she came to losing an eye.

"You are incredibly gifted." Satya stated, examining her critically, "Even being born as a Remnant such as you were, you turn your abilities into a dance, making order of chaos. It is something I understand quite well. I am sorry that this happened."

"T-thank you." Weiss stated, slightly taken aback, though the shock of the wound and a new fear of what the next "training" session could bring asserting itself in her brain.

"I imagine you would like some rest?" Satya asked, matter-a-factly.

"Yes," Weiss said, the strain on her muscles and mind truly beginning to weigh on her.

"Very well, I will accompany you to your room if you would find that acceptable?" Satya stated, looking over at the doctor.

Weiss nodded mutely, turning to look at Dr. Kateb, "Thank you."

The Doctor chuckled, "As I said before Madame, there is no need."

The base was usual for Vishkar, pristine white plasteel walls, hovering turrets, orderly patrolling guards, blue lights shining out of every crevice they could manage. In short...it stood out like a sore thumb against the thick jungle around it. You'd have thought they'd have tried for a bit of camouflage, but Vishkar believed they were untouchable.

"_Their mistake." _Qrow though as he and his companions sat patiently watching the goings-on within the fort from a nearby tree.

Valkyrie was fidgeting slightly.

Why he'd agree to take her on this mission was beyond him, though the Boss had forced the issue so here she sat, anxiously rubbing her knuckles. Her face was hidden behind the black plasteel helmets they were all wearing, but he would have bet his bottom dollar that she was chewing on her lip at that very moment.

Lotus, on the other hand, was a paragon of calm. If Qrow hadn't known any better he would have sworn the young man had frozen up.

Qrow wouldn't have blamed him, this place wasn't too dissimilar from where he'd been picked up. Vishkar claimed to stand for order and prosperity, but they wanted into a very ugly arms race that needed to be addressed.

Lotus had been one of those "weapons", not a Remnant like his partner or Qrow himself, but they'd been damn sure to turn him into something near enough.

Both of his younger team-mates' weapons sat ready, though Qrow hoped if he did his part perfectly, they wouldn't need to use them, except for a little creative "redecorating" on Valkyrie's part.

"Bit of a SNAFU," a clipped voice stated over the comms, causing Qrow and the others to perk up.

"What happened?" Qrow asked, his gravelly voice muffled and slightly scrambled thanks to his helmet.

"Take a look," the voice stated, as the HUD inside his helmet turned brilliant red, numerous biosignatures flashing to life across the complex, standing out amongst them was a faintly blue outline deep within the main building, "Doc got it right, they've moved all but one of the Remnants that were on-site."

"And they could have been sent anywhere Vishkar has friends or sank in its hooks," Qrow muttered, watching his young compatriots' shoulders drop.

"Brazil or Russia are likely bets." the voice remarked bitterly, "I've told the Sergeant, she's holding the go-ahead for your recommendation."

"Honestly, this uncomplicates quite a few sticking points," Qrow stated, turning to look at the others, "Thoughts?"

"I want to go in," Valkyrie said, "Helping one person is better than helping none."

"I agree," Lotus stated, nodding in agreement.

"Right, the plan stays as before, though now we're only running interference for _one_ hostage. Once I make enough noise, you two enter the main complex and get them out. Pulse stay on overwatch, and tell Sergeant that we are a go."

"Understood." Pulse said, a bit of humor entering his voice, "Give em hell 'Misfortune'."

Qrow chuckled softly, and turned to the others, "Time for you two to disappear. Remember, on my mark, so keep on comms and keep out of sight."

"Let's do this!" Valkyrie stated excitedly, as she drew her compact grenade launcher. Lotus's reaction was more muted, as he simply lowered his head, the gauntlet's on his arms and the small hologram projector on his back flashing with pink energy for a moment. A shell of hard light surrounded both him and his partner, both seeming to blip out of existence. Qrow knew that if he took off his helmet he'd be able to spot the both of them, but at the moment he just listened to them leap free of the tree, landing gently on the wall.

"_My turn."_ He thought as he launched himself out of the tree. He pushed off the wall so he landed in the middle of the courtyard, directly in front of a patrolling guard. The pristine ovular helmet he wore hid his surprise but the panicked step back and fumbling with his sleek energy rifle gave it away.

Qrow never let him raise the weapon as his fist came up, punching through the feeble shield he'd been wearing, and leaving a slight indent in the plasteel as he crumbled to the ground. Qrow snatched up the rifle, and with some help from his gift narrowly dodged a shot from the sniper he'd missed on the way in.

The Boss and his old teammates liked to joke that Qrow had been born too lucky. The eggheads had claimed his Remnant ability allowed him to manipulate probability in his favor. His sister had pegged it right, Qrow was a walking disaster, just most of the time other people suffered from that fact not him.

He fired quickly, a lance of plasma flying free of the barrel and slamming into the sniper's shoulder plating. The sniper flinched, his shield softening most of the blow, though the brief flash of color further revealed his location giving Qrow a better line on his next shot. Tapping a button near the trigger quickly, he fired an orb of plasma firing free of the gun. It slammed into the sniper, sending a jolt of electricity throughout their entire body, knocking them unconscious.

There was an electrical snap off to his left, and he ducked low as a stun baton swung past. He shoulder checked the Vishkar guard in the abdomen and wrapping his arms around his waist. He rolled them over his shoulders, smacking them to the ground. The guard fought to regain his feet, only for Qrow to strike out viciously with the butt of the gun. Plasteel cracked against bone, there was an audible snap as the guard's jaw dented to the side slightly and his body went limp as he lapsed into unconsciousness.

"Hey!" a voice cried out, as four more Vishkar mooks raced towards him, three with their rifles in hand the last carrying what looked to be a Vishkar Light Cannon.

"_Perfect,"_ Qrow smirked, as he fired off two shots with the stolen rifle, reaching back with the other hand for his main weapon mag-locked to his back.

"On my mark," he stated over the comms.

The three riflemen skidded to a halt and leaped behind cover as the plasma bolts whipped past their heads. The heavy charged forward, her cannon glowing dangerously, as she ground to a stop and fired. A great sphere of blue plasma fired it's way free.

And out came Harbinger, Qrow's near six-foot-long Crusader-stylized club of a sword. He swung down with all his might, a glowing red edge burning to life. The blow bisected the sphere, sending it careening behind him. A conflagration of green fire erupted behind him.

"Now," he stated. He stood, sword held in a reverse grip, staring down the now swarming Vishkar guards.

"That's right, all eyes on me."

Lotus and Valkyrie landed on the wall and watched as Qrow leaped above them, and silently made their way further across the wall.

Lotus quickly took the lead, Valkyrie a step behind him.

"Alright kids, you're aiming for this window," Pulse stated, their huds highlighting a large window on the top floor. "Remember cams first, and then go for the hostage."

They didn't respond, simply walking closer along that wall to their target.

Lotus looked around, his eyes peeled. The refraction tech on his back would keep him and his partner out of the view of any drones, cameras, or tech-based visors, but one pair of keen human eyes could make them.

He looked over at his companion, who had been with him longer than anyone at this point. She was rubbing her knuckles again.

He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, "We're going to be fine."

She turned to look at him and nodded her head, whispering back despite the private comms, "I know, it's just bad memories."

"Bad memories." He parroted, turning back to the building.

Gunfire broke the silence, and they both tensed, Valkyrie prepping her launcher, while Lotus checked the meter on his pack one more time.

76%, which meant it would be a while before he'd have to worry about a recharge.

"On my mark." their mentor's voice remarked over the comms. Valkyrie pulled the trigger on her launcher, a dark cylinder of metal firing quietly from the muzzle.

It hit the window with a soft tink, suckering to the window, a beeping pink light on the outer edge. Valkyrie's finger hovered over the secondary trigger while Lotus focused ahead.

There was a colossal explosion, green light erupting from their right-hand side, and over the comms came, "Now."

Nora pressed the trigger, the window popping inward in a rain of shattered glass, the sound drowned out by the remnants of the explosion and the uproar of gunfire.

Lotus locked his arms around Valkyrie's and together they leaped forward, soaring through the window with ease, twin hardlight daggers erupting as the former landed softly, the latter loading another charge into the chamber.

They were in, now came the hard part.

They had reached the door to Weiss's room when the explosion had rocked the complex.

Satya froze as warning lights began to flash along the ceiling, "Get inside."

Weiss complied, turning to face the older woman as she was already walking away.

"What is going on?" Weiss asked.

"I do not know," Satya responded, "but your safety is paramount Miss Schnee."

She pulled both hands inward towards her torso, both fingers twitching. Three balls of energy appeared above her robotic palm, and with a flick of her hand, she threw them above the door frame to Weiss's room.

Small metallic orbs emerged from the light, maglocking to the wall and began swirling around. They resembled eyes in a way, with a vibrant cyan light as the pupil.

"Stay here," Satya commanded, and then took off at a brisk pace heading for the front end of the complex.

Weiss walked deeper into her room, and slowly sank onto her bed, flinching at the faint sounds of gunfire.

"_Is it Null Sector?"_ her panicked brain asked, "_Talon? What should I do? Stay here, but what if they come from me."_

She looked up as the door slid shut, her freshly scarred visage staring back at her, "_What if?"_

**What if indeed! I hope you enjoyed the way I've retooled Weiss, Qrow, and *ahem* "Lotus's" abilities. I didn't want everyone to be a Remnant and for those that are, some stuff needed to be retooled a bit to work in the Overwatch setting. I'll answer any questions people might have, just feel free to ask!**


	3. Through the Looking Glass Part II

**Sorry, this took so long, but School and Life took me in the opposite direction.**

**Last Time on Remnants!**

"**Stay here," Satya commanded, and then took off at a brisk pace heading for the front end of the complex.**

**Weiss walked deeper into her room, and slowly sank onto her bed, flinching at the faint sounds of gunfire. **

"_**Is it Null Sector?"**_ **her panicked brain asked, **"_**Talon? What should I do? Stay here, but what if they come from me."**_

**She looked up as the door slid shut, her freshly scarred visage staring back at her, **"_**What if?"**_

**Chapter III: Through the Looking Glass II**

Lotus stalked through the halls as quietly as he could, Valkyrie not far behind him trying to follow his movements with marginal success, thankfully the gunfire and blaring alarm covered up her missteps.

Stealth wasn't exactly her forte.

"_But I wouldn't have anyone else watching my back." _he thought, as they slide up to a corner.

He peered around, spotting several guards rushing towards them. He pushed Valkyrie flat against the wall and followed suit, as they rushed past, arms at the ready.

Lotus nodded at his companion.

They detached from the wall. Lotus spotted a camera looking directly at them and motioned for Valkyrie to stick close.

He checked the meter once more, 72%. Still in the clear.

"It should be the third door one hall down from where you are now." Pulse stated.

"Acknowledged." Lotus stated, looking over his shoulder at Valkyrie, "You wanna knock?"

"Yes please!" Valkyrie said, and Lotus knew she had a massive grin at her face as they continued forward.

They slid to a stop in front of the door, Valkyrie placing the barrel of her gun to the door as Lotus kept his head on a swivel.

"Knock, Knock," Valkyrie muttered, pulling the trigger. A contained blast shattered the light-constructed door, a canister firing into the room, a plume of smoke erupting.

"Intr-" The guard began to cry over her comms, Valkyrie interrupting with a charging tackle to the torso.

Lotus slid into the room, heading for the terminal, numerous holo screens flashing with scenes from throughout the complex, Qrow's battle raging outside, guards racing through the hallways to meet the brawl.

There was a muffled yell followed by silence, Valkyrie popping from the smoke a moment later.

Lotus studied more of the cameras, searching for anything important.

A woman walking, no stalking her way down a hallway. All too familiar tech snapping to the wall with pointed gestures. She appeared on another camera, heading towards the mess their mentor was carving through the Vishkar personnel. A looming shadow appearing behind her, an immense Omnic with a deep glowing red eye.

"Qrow, incoming, Vishkar Elite, and a very large Omnic, abilities unknown." he stated over the comms, a laughing grunt the only return followed by a curt, "Thanks, kid."

"Found who we're here for." Valkyrie piped up, pointing at a side screen. A girl, probably their age, with long white hair and a very fresh facial scar in a white and blue jumpsuit sat on her bed, knees pulled to her chest.

"Let's go get her!"

Lotus nodded, pulling the hacking module from up his sleeve and inserting it into the console.

"Thank you, Lotus." Pulse murmured over the comms as the screens sputtered then took on a royal blue tint.

"Their eyes are all mine, all personnel seems focused on the mayhem Qrow is brewing, you can decloak and double-time to the marker I'm sending you...now!"

A blue dot pinged on their hub, two halls over and one up. Lotus deactivated the field around them, panels of reflective light blinking out of existence.

"Let's move."

Valkyrie smiled and raced out charging ahead, launcher ready for the first sign of trouble him ghosting behind her.

* * *

Qrow tensed, shoulder checking the nearest guard to the ground, parrying a wild strike with his blade as a follow-up, then smacking the offender in the face with the flat of the blade. Hard enough to break some teeth and leave a wicked headache.

He was doing them a favor honestly, Vishkar's hard light dermal implants were all the rave, poor sucker might even get them at a discount.

So far he'd been coming out on top, few scrapes and burns marking his armor but the heap of unconscious bodies lying every which way made this feel almost comical.

Then the Omnic hit him. Turning around to face off against what he'd assumed was another too brave to back down brick for brains, he was instead met with a metal fist the size of a car tire.

He dug his blade into the ground, managing to halt his backward momentum. The shields had taken much of the blow but it took a minute for air to reenter his lungs.

"First real hit someone's managed on me today," Qrow remarked conversationally as he leaned on his blade, "Have to give it to you. Though if I'm honest, Omnics have always been a sticking point for me. Very few tells to read."

"Can you read mine?" a Hindi accented female voice asked, as three orbs of plasma crackled in his direction.

He slashed through two of them with a quick strike, catching the last on the flat of his blade. Lowering it he watched his assailant approach, in a mixture of frustration and amusement he recognized her instantly. Satya Vaswani, callsign Symmetra, this was going to be interesting.

"You favor your robotic arm when throwing punches as it is naturally stronger, you only have two more shots like that before you reload, and you rely more on your little turrets than you do your own fighting capability." Qrow listed off, smirking slightly as Symmetra ground to a stop.

"Who are you?" she asked, her eyes narrowing as her head turned slightly to the side.

"We've met," Qrow remarked simply, his eyes switching to focus on the Omnic. It towered over her silently, though he couldn't exactly recognize the type, the blade seemed like an OR-15, but the body was all off.

"I don't associate with criminals," Symmetra stated coldly.

Qrow scoffed, "You said the same thing the last time. Rio ring any bells?"

Her eyes widened slightly, as they trailed along the blade and up to his helmeted face. Then a deep scowl set in, "You. You helped that anarchist artist."

"We anarchists have to stick together." he joked, "So, how about we get this over with shall we?"

"Gladly." she snapped.

The Omnic moved first, punching forward with its blade. He parried, sparks grating along both their lengths as Symmetra gestured with her hands, a turret materializing atop both of the Omnic's shoulders. Beams of aquamarine energy lanced free, seeking him out causing him to leap backward. A plasma orb fired after him a moment later which he smacked away with the edge of his blade, catching the Omnic in the chest.

There was a snapping click behind him, and he whirled as a teleporter burst to life, a whip of energy flying free nearly catching his wrist, followed a second later by a kick that caught him in the chin. He slid backward as Satya stepped free of the portal, a confident smirk on her face, her gun transformed into a snapping whip of pure plasma.

"_This is getting interesting." _he thought to himself, even as he parried yet another of the Omnic blows.

* * *

Valkyrie was excited, finally, she was allowed to do something other than train at Beacon. Sure the silence was kinda, sorta killing her but she'd power through it.

Lotus was just a step ahead of her, knives out, his whole body tense. She fought the urge to reach out and catch his arm, and comfort him,

"_Not the time." _she reprimanded herself, as they turned the final corner, Lotus skidding to a halt a familiar aura spreading out from him that she literally ended up running into.

"What?" she asked.

"Look up," he said, pointing. She followed his gaze and sucked air in through her teeth at the eight Vishkar turrets that grew like pristine mechanical tumors out of the ceiling and the top of the wall surrounding the prisoner's room.

"Oh...well this shouldn't be too complicated, how're you doing?" She asked, turning to look at him.

"68%." he stated, "But these are motion-activated, my gears no good."

"Right. Let's do it the old fashioned way then," she said.

She spun the chamber on her grenade launcher, locked it into place, and fired. The cylindrical grenade hit the ceiling with a dull thunk, the turrets all swiveling in its direction as a wave of electricity poured free of the grenade. Every turret except those on the door-frame stuttered, froze, and then discorporated.

Lotus followed her up, three long hard-light daggers flying free of his hands one after the other. They embedded themselves in the center of the turrets, which sparked and popped in a more drastic display.

"Thought you were supposed to be the sneaky one?" Valkyrie quipped.

Lotus didn't respond, darting for the door to quickly examine the key-pad. Valkyrie walked up behind him, keeping her head on a swivel in case any Vishkar guards rounded the corners.

"Think you can crack it?" she asked, peering over her shoulder at him as he fiddled with the keypad momentarily.

"Yep," he remarked, another dagger appearing in his hand which he then pierced clean through the keypad. The door slid open suddenly, revealing its occupant.

"Stay away!" a commanding slightly British accented voice commanded, and Valkyrie turned in surprise as Lotus ducked a flurry of thin hard-light...icicles?

* * *

The explosions hadn't stopped if anything they'd gotten worse. Fighting off bad memories, Weiss concentrated. Her rapier appeared in hand and she began to pace around the length of her room. The wound on her face stung, further exacerbating her fraying mood.

A soft electrical pop startled her, and she swiveled on her door. Another pop created her, followed by a flurry of others and then three more powerful crunching sounds.

"_Someone's outside." _she thought, quickly taking on her fighting stance, "_They're coming to take me. Control, keep control, I am in control."_

A hard-light blade punched through the door frame, setting her on the back foot for a second before she regained her composure.

The door slid open revealing two figures in faceless black glass helmets, black form-fitting stealth suits. One was kneeling before the door, a long green hard-light dagger in his hand, and their body was coursing with a shimmering pink light every other moment. The other had their back to her, looked to be shorter than her but Weiss's eyes were immediately drawn to the large grenade launcher clasped in their hands.

"Stay away!" she shouted, a glyph crackling to life to her left and firing off a barrage of thin shards of hard-light.

The kneeling figure ducked low to the ground, while the other whirled around, though their weapon wasn't raised.

The kneeling figure held up a hand, and said in a garbled voice, "Stop, we aren't here to hurt you."

"We're trying to get you out of here!" the shorter one stated, making to walk forward.

"Don't!" Weiss commanded, pointing her rapier at them, "Don't move, I refuse to let you kidnap me!"

"Kidn-we're not kidnappers!" the shorter one stated, sounding slightly annoyed, "Vishkar are the kidnappers!"

"Says the heavily armed masked trespassers." Weiss deadpanned, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"They hurt you." the other figure said, their voice soft, gesturing slowly at her wounded eye.

"Not on purpose." Weiss fired back, though her own doubts set her voice shaking, "They're teaching me how to control my powers!"

"No." the taller figure stated, "They're teaching you how to be controlled."

"We'd know." the shorter person stated, "Vishkar is only good at one thing, using people, and they're going to keep using you unless you come with us right now."

Weiss stood there silent for several moments, another explosion shaking the building and sending the lights flickering, "How do I know I can trust you?"

The two looked at each other, the shorter speaking first, "We still good?"

"I've got 52% left." the taller remarked.

"Good." the other stated, as they reached for their helmet. The helmet came away with a soft hiss, revealing a girl about her age with fair skin, turquoise eyes, and orange hair that was pulled back and ended at the base of her neck.

The taller figure reached for their helmet a bit slower, but it too came away revealing a boy about her age with slightly tanned skin, magenta eyes and black hair pulled into a tightly braided topknot, though a loss section with a single magenta streak hung free over his left eye.

"You want to know how you can trust us?" the girl parroted, sharing a knowing look with the boy.

"Because once upon a time we were you." the boy finished, staring at Weiss intently.

She lowered her blade slowly, staring at them both cautiously, "Like me?"

"Trained by Vishkar." the boy stated, tapping the mechanism on his arms, which Weiss recognized for the first time as Vishkar tech.

"A Remnant." the girl stated, smiling as pink lightning crackled between her raised fingers.

"We can take you somewhere far better than Vishkar." she continued.

"No more pain. No more fear." the boy said, seeming to be able to see past her facade even easier than she had figured.

"So, you wanna come with?" the girl asked, pointing over her shoulder at the open door with a cocky smile.

Weiss was silent for several moments, weighing her options, this place had been near enough to prison for so long but it hadn't been uncomfortable or hard, just lonely.

She looked over to the mirror she'd crafted on some of her first days here, the girl within looking back at her every bit as confused and scared as she felt inside.

It hadn't been uncomfortable, but things were changing, getting darker. Had her dad known this would start happened. The scar twinged as she reached up to touch it.

She had been locked away for so long, even before coming to Vishkar, this...this was her chance.

She turned back to face the two teens, the girl fidgeting slightly, turning every once and a while to look out the doorway. The boy was staring at her, his head slightly leaning to the side as if curious.

These two were offering her freedom.

"_I'd be a fool not to take it." _she thought to herself, turning around quickly grabbing the small items she'd been able to keep, including her phone and slipped them into a bag on the floor.

"You're coming?" the boy asked, sounding a bit hopeful.

"Obviously." she snapped, turning to look at him with a fair bit of heat that quickly faltered at the befuddled look on his face, "Sorry, yes I'm coming."

"Awesome!" the girl cried, sliding her helmet back on her partner following suit, "Oh, by the way, as of this moment, I'm Valkyrie, he's Lotus."

The boy nodded, "What may we call you?"

Weiss froze in zipping the bag shut.

"_Do I give them my real name?" _she thought frantically, before catching sight of her apple necklace within her bag.

"Winter." she stated, turning around to face the pair, "You can call me Winter."

"Great, let's beat feet Winnie!" Valkyrie cried as she rushed out the door.

"You-you'll get used to that." Lotus offered helpfully, following after his excited partner Weiss picking up the rear.

* * *

Fighting two on one had never been much of a challenge for Qrow. Fighting a skillfully trained Vishkar agent and an Omnic KNI-T at the same time, challenging but doable. That combined with a whole army of Vishkar goons, now that was very difficult.

And he couldn't have been happier.

"Thought Vishkar paid top-dollar for their folks," he remarked snarkily as he backhanded a charging guard, "So why are you all fighting like rookies."

His blade came up to block another sphere of plasma from Symmetra, returning fire with a pilfered shotgun he'd managed to nab during the melee.

"How about you Miss Prodigy?" he called out as he narrowly avoided being cleaved in half by the KNI-T's downward swing, "How much are they paying you to give up your morals and train child soldiers?"

Symmetra paused in her barrage, seemingly taken aback by his biting question.

"Vishkar would never do something so heinous," she stated finally, her face now a mask of anger. She darted in, the caster turning into a whip once more, snaking out towards his helm. He sidestepped, accidentally tripping an oncoming guard who took the whip full to the chest. He went down with a cry of pain, but Symmetra didn't falter, pressing her attack on Qrow.

"Right like they wouldn't set fire to innocent people's homes." Qrow fired back, slashing forward with his blade, putting his opponent on her back-foot. Her eyes narrowed further, more anger leaking through her carefully coached dispassionate expression.

"_Good, keep pressing."_ he thought to himself as he muttered over his comms, "Pulse, how're we looking."

"Lotus and Valkyrie have the girl, they're moving out, coming in for pickup. Think you can keep the Agent and her metal friend occupied for a bit longer?"

"Oh most definitely." Qrow returned, as he leaped over the KNI-T's latest brutal swing, only for a plasma whip to wrap around his ankle and snap him to the ground. Then came a brutal kick from the KNI-T to the side, his shield shattering as he careened into a pile of crates.

"Damn," he muttered, as he shrugged himself free of the wreckage.

"Really, Satya I think the bot is trying harder than you are to make Vishkar proud." Qrow snarked, watching as the woman bristled slightly at the use of her real name.

"Maybe I should keep prodding because I still find it ironic you don't think you're people would steal kids." he said, ducking out of a line of rifle fire, and catching the offending guard in the leg with a blast from his acquired shotgun, "After all, they stole you didn't they?"

There was no response, only for a familiar click, followed by a whip wrapping around his neck burning into his armor. Emerging from the portal she pulled him off balance catching him in the upper back with a furious punch from her robotic arm.

"Vishkar gave me purpose. They rescued me," she stated, her face hardened into the familiar mask.

"Sure they did," he muttered back, as he brought his blade up to sever the connection, before whirling on the Omnic and unloading a bolt of plasma directly into its cyclopean face.

"Pulse, where are they at?" he asked over comms.

"They hit a snag, but I am still on approach, Hold out for just a bit longer."

"_Typical."_ he thought to himself, as he turned the gun on Symmetra.

* * *

They had raced back down the hallway leading away from Winter's room, the charge on his abilities ticking down further and further. As they rounded the corner the froze, holding up his hand for Valkyrie and their charge to slow down, as two figures turned to face them.

"We are under attack, and I will be removing the subject from the premises at once." a balding short man in a Vishkar branded lab coat was explaining to another man, dressed like a combat medic.

"On whose authority?" the other man demanded, a French accent coloring his words.

"Again you are a contractor Dr. Kateb!" the Vishkar scientist shouted, "It is none of your con-."

He stopped speaking as he took in Lotus, and the others, anger, and fear muddling his features.

Lotus's blades came out, while Valkyrie raised her launcher. Winter for her part, sent the scientist a fearful but angered look.

"Miss, step away from them this instant!" the scientist commanded.

"Back off." Valkyrie demanded, moving in front of Winter, "She's coming with us."

"None of you will be going anywhere." the scientist countered, "You anarchists have no right to make demands of me, Miss please you are in danger."

He raised his hand out to Winter but she shrank backward, Lotus taking that clue to fully zero in on the scientist.

"You, you were the one." he stated, "The one that got her hurt."

He moved forward, the scientist swiftly pulling a pistol from his hip, freezing Lotus in his tracks.

"Rich coming from a terrorist." the scientist snapped, "Miss please, I will not ask again."

He opened his mouth to say more but froze. His eyes suddenly rolled backward in his head as he slumped to the floor.

The Medic stood there calmly loading another canister into his tranq-pistol, "Correct."

"Doctor Kateb, what are you doing?" Winter asked, staring at him questioningly.

"My job." he stated simply, turning to look at Lotus and Valkyrie, "Best not keep Misfortune waiting any longer."

Winter stood there confused, as the Doctor handed the tranq-pistol to him. Lotus nodded silently, as Kateb took several steps backward. Lotus lifted the pistol and fired once, sending the older man to the ground unconscious. Winter gasped inadvertently.

"Yeah, this cloak-and-dagger stuff is sort of new to me too," Valkyrie stated, patting Winter on the shoulder, "But like I said before, we've got to beat feet!"

Lotus fought a grin as Valkyrie took off, finding himself now in the middle in front of Winter. He slid the pistol into a holster on his hip as they ran, the front doors getting closer and closer.

To say that Weiss was confused was an understatement, she was being rescued by people her own age, they somehow knew Doctor Kateb, who was lying on the ground behind them snoring softly.

The three of them crashed through the front doors just as a crate came flying in their direction.

"Down!" Valkyrie ordered. Weiss ducked, as the former fired off a round, denting in one side of the crate and sending it clattering away from them with a dulled explosion.

"Bought time you finally got here!" a gruff voice called out, drawing Weiss's attention. A taller figure in a similar dress to her rescuers was standing atop a shipping crate, an immense blade in one hand and a shotgun in the other. He was facing off against Symmetra, who turned to look at them with a curious expression.

"Stop them," Symmetra ordered, the sound of thunderous footsteps announcing the arrival of a terrifying sight. The drone from before loomed over her and her saviors, it's visor-like red eye glowing menacingly.

"Go!" Lotus ordered, pointing for her to run in the other direction. He darted for the drone, his blades appearing in his hands, and cutting a line across the massive robot's lower leg.

Valkyrie meanwhile started cackling, rotating the barrel of her launcher and firing off three rounds. The first two exploded across the drone's torso in clouds of pink smoke. The third was aimed towards Symmetra, who flipped away from it, catching the other figure in the bottom of the jaw with a kick as she did so.

"Stop!" a voice called out, drawing Weiss's attention back to herself where a guard with a rifle was rushing towards her. Half in a panic she thrust her rapier towards him, jutting shards of hard-light charging towards him and slamming him backward.

Valkyrie rushed up behind her, "Come on, keep moving."

"To where? The jungle?" Weiss snapped.

Almost as if in answer, there was a roar of an engine as out of the thick cloud cover above, a black VTOL appeared.

"Attention Vishkar." a voice called out, magnified from speakers positioned on the ship, "Bed-Time."

A bolt of blue energy fired from the front of the plane and struck the ground, a ripple in the air spread out from the impact in a dome. Lights went dark, weapons stopped firing, several more heavily armored Vishkar soldiers actually stuttered to a halt and fell over or locked in place.

The wave seemed to not affect Valkyrie or Lotus, the former racing ahead of her, the other nimbly disengaging from the drone and chasing after them. Weiss saw the other figure, shoulder check Symmetra away from them, her weapon dark and her robotic arm hanging uselessly to the side.

They then leaped away, covering way more ground than would have been humanly possible, landing several feet in front of Lotus.

"Get moving!" the ordered, as the VTOL shattered the front gates with another shot, this time a rocket, and began to makes it's decent. A door opening on the side as it did so.

Weiss nodded, only for a metallic roar to startle her into looking backward once more.

The drone had not been halted by the EMP, and it had been chasing after them. Weiss saw a strange flash of pink dissipate around him, and the drone turned suddenly, it's eye glowing. It lashed out catching him in the spin with a devastating sideswipe, sending the boy flying to the sound with a cry of pain, and the shattering of a blue shield.

The drone charged after him, a long blade emerging prepared to plunge into his prone form.

"Kid!"

"Ren!"

Weiss's world slowed, as the others began to move toward their fallen comrade. She was moving, picking up speed, dashing forward without even thinking. She brought her rapier back as she ran and shouted, "No!"

The drone turned as a shard of hard-light larger than Weiss had ever managed to produce before slammed clean through the drone's torso and out the other side. The robot was lifted off its feet by the force of the shot and careened backward away from Lotus.

Weiss gasped, as all her energy was suddenly sapped from her body. She blinked several times as the world blurred, and when her vision returned to normal she was surprised to find herself standing over the prone Lotus, one of her glyphs beneath her feet.

"Are you alright?" she puffed out, reaching a hand out to help him up.

"Yes, thank you," he said softly, taking her hand though he almost ended up pulling her to the ground rather than her lift him to his feet.

He let go of her hand and nodded for her to follow him as he started to limp towards the VTOL, Valkyrie rushing to meet him.

Weiss made to follow, only for a metallic groan to turn her attention back to the drone. It was moving faintly, one of its arms reaching out towards her.

Its eye was flashing from red to a deep sky blue, and back again until it finally ended on blue. The groan took on another quality that Weiss couldn't fully make out, it was almost like a strange song, though low and almost guttural.

She took an involuntary step forward, the tune pitching higher as she did so, and some part of her was compelled. She reached up towards the drone's outstretched hand, her fingertips just touching it's a spark snapping between them, and at that moment the tune became words.

"Thank you…" a low voice stated, as the robot's eye went dark.

"Winter!" Valkyrie's voice brought her back to the present, "Let's go!"

Weiss turned and raced towards the VTOL, the hard-light symbols she'd left on the ground carrying her forward even quicker than before.

She hopped into the VTOL, passing by Valkyrie and the yet unnamed figure who jumped into the plane after her.

"Pulse get us out of here!" the taller figure shouted as they reached for their helmet. The VTOL jolted slightly as it rose into the air, and Weiss stumbled over to a seat as the plane began continued its ascent.

The taller figure, revealed himself to be an older mean with black hair just beginning to be streaked in gray, dull red eyes and just a hint of stubble along his pale chin.

"Nice to finally make your acquaintance Miss…" he began, his voice still gruff but also softer than it had been with the helmet on.

"Winter." she offered immediately.

"Winter what?" he returned, giving her a quizzical look.

"Just Winter," she stated, smiling nervously.

"Well 'Just Winter' I'm Qrow Branwen." the man stated. His last name caused her to pause for a moment, it pinged a few bells but she was not fully certain why.

"Nice to meet you, and thank you," she stated.

"Don't thank me I was just the distraction," Qrow said with a chuckle, "These two should take most of the thanks."

"So now that we're in some safer confines," the girl began, suddenly leaping forward and grasping Weiss's hands, "It's so awesome to be able to meet you! My name is Nora Valkyrie, and that thing you did with that Omnic was incredible and I thought my Remnant abilities were cool!"

"Uh, I, nice to meet you too, and thanks." Weiss stuttered, taken aback by the smaller girl's sudden antics.

"As I said, you'll get used to it." the boy stated, with a soft smile which turned into a wince as he held his side.

"I alright, but wait did you say 'Omnic'?" Weiss asked, that bit of Nora's rant finally locking into place in her brain.

"A KNI-T, tough cookie all around." Qrow stated, "Not many of them left since the Crisis, but they always pack a whole lot of hurt."

"Oh," Weiss muttered, rubbing the back of the hand she'd touched the Omnic with, a combination of guilt, anger, and fear still roaring around in her brain.

"As Nora says, that takedown was very impressive, seems like you've already got a good handle on your powers," Qrow remarked, sitting down in a seat near the front of the plane as it finished its ascent and began flying forward.

"I...I've never actually done anything like that before today," Weiss said, looking down at her hand and watching the rapier dematerialize slowly.

"Well regardless, good work," Qrow stated, pulling a flash off his side and bringing it to his lips, "We happen to like this one."

He nodded at Lotus, who winced as Nora pulled him into a tight hug.

"Thank you again," he stated, bowing to her from his seated position, "And since we are still on introductions I am.."

"Ren." Weiss interrupted, shrinking into herself slightly as he gave her a confused look, "I heard Nora say it during the fight."

Qrow paused in his drinking and shot Nora a questioning look, who blushed and stared at the ground, "Sorry, I just...he…"

"It's fine Nora." Ren comforted, patting the hand she had resting on his arm, "And yes, I am Ren, Lie Ren."

"It's very good to meet you all, but where exactly are we going," Weiss asked, looking at each of her saviors in turn.

"Beacon," Qrow stated, leaning forward in his seat, "Let me explain."

* * *

Ozpin stared at a monitor showing Weiss seated at a table a plate of pancakes before her, Nora sitting beside her, and Ren still at the oven.

"Vishkar will not be please about this turn of events." Glynda stated, "They could take actions against us."

"We know far more about Vishkar than they do about us." Oz remarked, "Even if they knew how to take action, ours would likely do more damage."

"Sir, that is Weiss Schnee," Glynda said, frustration bleeding through, "Her father will be looking for her, and if she is found here we _will_ be implicated."

"Her own father allowed her to be used as a Vishkar Guinea Pig, likely to be indoctrinated into the company's views and made an Agent." Ozpin amended, "Perhaps he did not fully understand this eventuality, or perhaps he knew but simply didn't care or agreed to it. Regardless, I believe 'Winter' should be allowed to find her own path for once in her life. If it comes to it, I will take the blame for any consequences, which could be mitigated by informing her namesake sister of her current were-abouts."

They both turned back to the screen where Weiss was giggling at something Nora had said.

"She has a chance to grow here that she was deprived of most of her life." Oz continued, "To understand what it truly means to be a Remnant around other Remnants and skilled individuals."

"Understood Sir." Glynda stated, "I will begin her housing arrangments at once."

"Any news from our Friend out West?" Ozpin asked, turning to look at her.

"Not yet sir, but you know him, he's grown accustomed to making up his own plans on the fly," Glynda stated with a hint of a sigh.

An image of the Pacific North-West appeared, alongside a bearded, deeply tanned man with deep brown eyes, and brown hair. A cigar was clamped between his teeth and a cowboy hat sat atop his head.

"Jesse McCree, what have you gotten yourself into?" Oz pondered out loud, steepling his fingers before his face.

**And so ends Chapter three! The end of Weiss's heavily altered origin story. What does this mean for the future? Will Vishkar be returning? What happened between Weiss and the Omnic? How will the hiding of her identity, and the initial meeting with Ren and Nora change her interactions with the other? What's to follow? Well, that would be the tale of Jesse McCree and his unexpected run-in with the third of our quartet. It's been good getting back into the swing of things, though I will admit I don't know how often these updates will occur, regardless I'm headed back to Infinity next to figure out where exactly I left off. **

**VerBeek Signing Off!**


	4. Outcasts Part I

**Welcome back to Remnants! I do not own Overwatch or RWBY. **

**So I've been mulling over what to do with the Faunus for quite a long time now, trying to figure out if I should just leave them as is, turn the into Omnics, make them Remnant's with animalistic features until finally, I reached a common ground. Remnants, turned into cyborgs during the last years of the Omnic Crisis, called Fauns. Trusted by neither side in the post-war world, they're Outcasts. **

**Let's get right into the swing of things, shall we? **

**Chapter IV: Outcasts Part I  
**

**The Forever Fall, British Columbia, 12:03 EST**

It was so beautiful here, every tree white as freshly made paper, their leaves redder than a strawberry, fluttering down through the air on the ever-present breeze. A scar of the Omnic War, possibly created during the Remnant event near the end of the fighting, but it was so serene it was hard to think of it as anything but a safe haven.

Blake lifted her metallic hand to catch one of the fluttering leaves, feeling the slightest hint of a caress against the simulated nerve-endings in her fingers. Her antennae twisted and turned, taking in the delightful sound of faint birdsong in the distance. She exalted in serenity for a few moments longer when a deep voice cut through her daydreaming.

"Blake, it's time." she turned, a flutter of mangled emotions burning inside her as she saw Adam. Her antennae betrayed the torrent within as one perked up, and the other pulled tight to her head.

Adam had augmented himself heavily, two short horns curved up from his forehead, his eyes covered by a magnetically attached mask covered in deep red flame-like designs. He stood several feet taller than her, his body augmented with the salvaged parts of destroyed Bastions, welded to his form to make it more intimidating, most noticeable his large backward bending legs somewhat resembling a goat's. His left forearm was bulkier than the other while the right was covered in red glowing markings that flashed with light like a heartbeat.

Standing a step behind was Ilia, more similar to Blake in general body shape, though the small horns on her forehead and a similar mask to Adam's set her apart as well.

"O-okay," Blake stated her eyes narrowing slightly as she picked up her cobbled-together weapons and got up from her seated position.

Adam turned and went into a sprint, his augmented legs chewing up ground faster than some motorcycles, with Ilia a step behind followed by Blake.

"You nervous?" Ilia asked, slowing down slightly to be in step with Blake, her voice being sent directly to Blake's antenna.

"A little," Blake admitted, sliding under a broken log as Ilia flipped over it.

"Don't worry, I've got your back," Ilia stated, her tone softening as she spared Blake a sideways glance.

"I know," Blake stated appreciatively, turning to look at Adam as he ran a step ahead of them.

"_You're not the one I'm worried about."_ Blake thought to herself.

They ran in silence for several minutes before coming to a halt next to a cliffside the Canadian Rockies towering in the distance as the deep, whistle of a train shattered the calm around them. Several other Fauns rested along the cliffside, more of the White Iris, Fauns discontent with their place in the world. They all wore masks similar to Adam and Ilia's, weapons hanging off their side.

They all looked up at Adam's arrival, many standing to their feet as he walked past them and stared down at the swiftly approaching train. Blake pulled her mask out from a bag on her hip, staring at it for several moments before bringing it up to lock on to her face.

The train whistled again as it roared past beneath them, Adam leaping from the cliff without a second of notice, Ilia a step behind. Blake launched into the air after her, the others moments behind. The slid down the cliff, Blake passing Ilia, metal screaming against stone as the train grew closer and closer. Adam leaped, followed by black a long red blade emerging from a slot beneath his wrist.

Blake pulled free her own weapons, a cobbled-together machete, and followed his example, halting their momentum as their blades cut through the steel roof of the train. Ilia pulled free the bladed whip at her side, slingshotting herself towards Blake as it found purchase within the side of the train. Ilia skidded to a halt with a small grin on her face, her ponytail fluttering wildly in the racing wind. The others landed, some gracefully, others unsteadily, one a younger man with black markings on his mask, and curling ram-like horns teetered backward, almost falling off the train.

Blake moved to grab him only for Adam, to dart forward, his hand catching on the Faun's shirt. Pulling him back onto the train Adam held him at arm's length for a moment his mouth set in a determined line.

"We do not have the leisure of making mistakes today." he reprimanded, releasing the younger man, "Understood."

"Yes, sir!" came the parroted reply as the others included Ilia nodded in unison. Blake meanwhile had her antenna on a swivel, hunting for radio chatter to pick up on.

So far there was nothing, except a strange song that kept being butchered by static.

"We're clear," Blake stated, looking up at Adam, who's grin took on an edge that sent her heart fluttering once more.

"Good, let's move."

The raced across the top of the train, hopping car to car, hunting for a way inside the train until Adam slowed to a halt next to a hatch. His blade flashed out, severing the latch, and pulled it open, leaping inside, Blake and Ilia a step behind.

The interior was pitch black at first, only for a series of red light to begin to flash on one after another. A secondary hatch slammed shut, leaving the rest of the boarding party trapped up top while several drones woke up, armored faceplates slamming down over cyclopean red eyes.

"Look's like we're doing things the hard way." Adam snarled, as the drones surrounded them.

Ilia smirked, her whip crackling with electricity.

"Don't be so dramatic," Blake remarked, resting her hand on the hilt of her weapon.

One of the drones raised its arms, hands transforming into a set of assault-rifles. They vaguely resembled Bastion units but more streamlined, grey armor stamped with the white spear and cog sigil of the Atlas PMC on their left shoulder.

"Intruder, identify yourself." the drone ordered, in a deep, likely purposefully, intimidating voice.

Out of the corner of Blake's eye, she watched Adam smirk, raising his hands slowly, only for his arm to rotate around revealing the long barrel of a shotgun, which he fired directly into the drone's face. It lurched backward, Adam darting in, the blade emerging from his other hand, cutting a long slash along the front of its torso before spinning around to it's back, sending a cut the opposite way up it's back, bisecting it.

As the halves sparked and slid apart, the other drones turned to each other, blades of their own emerging from their arms, and darted forward. Four pincered in on Blake and Ilia.

Their blades descended from her neck, as she was shunted backward, a holographic image of herself taking the blow, while she spun in a circle, pulling her cleaver like blade off her back, cutting the head off one and removing an arm and a good chunk of the torso from the other.

Ilia meanwhile, ducked low under the first blow, pulling the trigger at the base of her whip causing it to punch forward, piercing clean through the head of one of the drones. Whirling around she kicked the other drone off its feet and vanished. The drone sat up, head-turning to face Blake. It went to move up, only for the bladed whip to wrap around its lower torso from behind and pull backward, severing the metallic spinal column, the torso falling to the ground while the legs stumble stepped forward several feet before collapsing.

The trio darted back towards each other, fighting back to back in a flurry of motion, ducking under each other blows, Adam's torso spinning like a top as he fired shot after shot from his arm-mounted shotgun. Blake and Ilia weaved around him, separating heads from necks, and limbs from bodies in a flurry of motion the slower drones struggled to even match let alone beat.

One drone planted far at the back and began to fire, bullets ricocheting off other drones, and pinging against the walls of the train car. Adam turned, the blade detaching from his wrist, He flipped it into the air, and caught it with his reassembled hand, blocking several shots in rapid succession, the marks on his armor shining brighter and brighter with each deflected shot.

Blake darted forward, deflecting several bullet's as well, as she charged the offending bot, sliding low across the ground, before leaping suddenly, decapitating the drone with a spinning swipe, keeping her momentum going she cut clean through another drone, followed by a third, when on her fourth spin she grabbed the cleaver-like blade of her weapon near the hilt, and pulled it away, revealing a thinner, slightly curved blade. She became a dervish of duel-wielding devastation, as Ilia darted behind her, electricity, snapping free of her whips as she shorted out drones, and dragged them away from Blake's blindspots.

Blake kicked one drone into the air, Adam charging to meet it with a fierce kick of his own, sending it crashing through the railcar's door. Adam raced after it, Blake and Ilia a step behind, revealing an open-air platform, covered in heavier cargo.

Blake's antenna perked up as a call went across all-comms, "Intruders have emerged onto car eight, all teams, weapons hot!"

"They know we're here," Blake reported, ducking behind cover as several more drones began leaping over the cover to meet them.

Ilia joined her while Adam continued to stand tall, deflecting bullets with his blade, "We stick to the plan."

The was a yell behind them, as the other White Iris caught up, some opening fire from where they stood, while others jumped down to join Adam.

"Lieutenant!" Adam barked, as the tallest Faun amongst them, long black tattoo's lining his remaining human arm, the rest of his body covered in metal, and synthetic muscle, his mask almost barn-owl in appearance, red marking surrounding its eyes and dripping down like bloody tears.

"Yes, Field-Commander?" the Faun asked, taking several shots to the torso but not even flinching as he grabbed an oncoming drone by the neck and then ripped it in half lengthwise.

"Carve a path!"

Blake winced as the dark laughter that colored the Lieutenant's voice, as he pulled an immense chain-saw that had been converted into a pike off his back, "Gladly!"

The large man charged forward, his powerful swings cutting through the Drone's like butter, the force behind them sending many careening off the train in a flurry of shattering metal and sparks.

Adam began stalking his way forward, Ilia jumping over the barricade, Blake following after her. A cry went up behind her, one of the Faun's crumpling to the ground with a wounded shoulder as several Drones emerged from behind them.

Blake spun around, her blade collapsing into an almost boomerang-like shape, a cord emerging from her wrists and mag locking to the hilt as she flung it like a yoyo. It sliced into the head of one of the drones, and as she yanked it fired, a bullet fired free of the weapon shattering the drone's eye and sent it sideways off the train. The blade whipped around as she spun, slamming into a drone Ilia had been fighting, beheading it.

Once more the dervish began, her gun-kama whirling around like the world's deadliest yoyo, its sheathe now maglocked to her back, as she whirled and twirled around.

"Hold the line!" Adam ordered as he darted past the Lieutenant, "Blake! With me!"

She darted forward ducking under the wild swing of a drone, that earned a furious dismemberment from Ilia for its trouble. Blake caught up to Adam as he bisected four drones with a single blow, the red-markings on his right arm, now steaming from the energy stored with.

Blake leaped at the one left standing, severing its right arm and head from the remains of its torso as she leaped past.

Adam kicked open the door to the next car, revealing several piles of crates, and three frantic Atlas Guards, an open crate at their feet. Adam sneered as they raised their rifles while Blake froze.

"You are interfering with Atlas's Supply Lines!" the eldest guard barked, leveling his rifle at Adam's head, "Stand down, or we will open fire."

"No," Adam said coldly, taking a step forward. The youngest guard panicked firing a stray shot that whizzed past Adam and struck Blake right in the shoulder. Her world disappeared in searing white-hot pain as electricity jumped and jolted through her entire body.

There was a roar of fury, and as her vision began to blink back into focus the sight was anything but welcoming.

One of the guards was strewn across the floor in a crumpled heap, feebly twitching while another was pinned to the wall with Adam's blade through her shoulder. He had rounded on the final guard, his shotgun an inch from the shaking man's temple, a feral snarl on Adam's face.

"Adam! Don't!" Blake cried, surging to her feet. He turned to look at her, the snarl remaining but some of the anger behind it burning away. He stood up, towering over the frightened man, and with a disgusted grunt kicked him backward. The man slammed into the wall, his helmeted head cracking against the wall. He fell to the ground bonelessly, Blake darting towards him, her heart beating a terrified staccato.

Kneeling down, she let out a gasping sigh as the man was revealed to be breathing softly the only wound a broken nose, and the rapidly growing bruise around both eyes.

Blake turned on Adam with a fearful glare, as he rounded on the pined woman, taking his blade in hand and pushing it deeper, eliciting a scream.

"Adam! Stop!" Blake demanded, as several of the others emerged from the shattered door, Ilia and the Lieutenant at the forefront.

"Sir, the last of the defenses have been defeated." the latter reported.

"Good," Adam remarked, cocking his head slightly as he stared at the heavily breathing woman before him, "How many more people are on board?"

"Twenty," the woman choked out, "They're civilians, please-"

She was cut off by a vicious punch to the side of the head, Adam pulling his blade out as he did so, letting her slump to the ground in a heap.

He turned to face the Blake and the others, Blake staring at his aghast, her breathing hitched in a slight panic, while Ilia fidgeted slightly at the sight of the injured Humans. The others barely even blinked.

"Grab everything we can carry. Then set the charges." Adam ordered, pointing around the room, "Three of you go find the rest of the passengers, bring them here."

The Lieutenant and two other detached and made their way to the opposite door, only for Blake to dart ahead of them and intercede.

"This wasn't the plan!" Blake cried, frantically looking around at the others, "We were supposed to just leave a message."

"This is our message," Adam stated, pointing down at the Schnee family sigil printed across the numerous crates, several of which were holding high-powered rifles and Schnee ADaptive Utility Synthesis Tracer Rounds, which judging by the partially empty container is what she had been shot with.

"These weapons, if not in our hands, will be used against us," Adam stated, as the sound of an explosive charge being placed punctuated his sentence.

"Los Muertos, Helix, Schnee's attack dogs, they all think they can treat us like freaks! Like animals! That ends today." Adam stated.

"What about the passengers?" Blake demanded.

"What about them?" Adam asked, staring her down, waiting for her to cave, as she had before.

But this was different, these people had lives, families to go home to, "You're talking about killing innocent people! If you do this you'll be no better than Null Sector or Talon!"

Adam opened his mouth to make a counterpoint when a loud beeping noise cut through their argument.

He turned with a snarl, as the one guard had gotten to his knees, ignored in the commotion, and pushed a button on his wrist. Ilia struck out at him catching him in the back of the neck with her whip, electricity ripping through his body. Blake moved to stop her when something metallic caught her in the back and sent her careening only for Adam to leap into the air and catch her. He held her close to his chest for a moment, and once more confusion and fear burned through her mind.

He set her down and turned as a large, red-and-black crab-like drone, with four glowing cannons detached from the ceiling like an overgrown spider.

Ilia and the Lieutenant darted forward to meet it, only for the former's strike to bounce off the robot's thick plated-hide without even a scratch. It then fired, catching the Lieutenant directly in the face, sending him careening backward, almost sliding off the train and beneath the wheels as he floundered for a handhold. It rotated on the others, the other three cannons glowing, and fired, Adam, deflected the first two to the side, visible glowing steam now pouring from his right arm, ripping holes in the side of the train car.

He rebounded the third, sending it into the drone's head. It teetered back slightly, but recovered, a plasma burn the only sign of damage.

"We need to leave!" Blake ordered, the other Fauns darting behind her and Adam, while Ilia flipped away from it's stamping feet and skidded to a halt next to the pair.

As if in response the drone planted its feet wide, the cannons combining into one immense piece of ordnance, the maw glowing with snapping, building plasma.

Adam pushed Ilia and Blake behind him, raising his blade in a determined grimace, as the cannon unloaded. The world around them went white and as the flashbang effect of the weapon disappeared, Blake saw the shrapnel raining down around them, the Lieutenant sprawled across the platform unconscious and the other White Iris stumbled to their feet in a state of shock. She heard a shocked cry and turned to see Ilia, careening off the side of the train.

Her kama flashed out as a clone emerged, shunting her backward, and she pulled with all of her might, drawing in Ilia before she could hit the ground. Her friend fell into her open arms, a fearful hug whipping the rest of the world away for a moment.

"You-you saved me," Ilia muttered, her hands shaking slightly as she grasped Blake's arms, her voice filled with the same soft tone as before.

Blake's mask had cracked from the blast, falling away to reveal off her yellow-circuitry filled eyes.

"Of course I did, I've got you're back to remember," Blake stated, with a sincere soft smile, the moment shattered by another explosion and Adam yelling.

"Blake, Ilia!" Adam cried, deflecting another shot, as the drone crawled its way out of the shattered rail car.

"Buy me some time!" he ordered, firing his shotgun at the drone, the bullets ricocheting off it to little effect.

Ilia reached for her weapon, and found air, "I...I lost my whip."

Blake placed a hand on her shoulder, and stated very seriously, "It's fine, look after the others."

She then darted away, weaving towards the drone, both blades out as Adam flipped his bladed into his other hand and began to draw it along his glowing arm.

Throwing her Kama, she fired a shot into the robot's head, using the forward momentum of the swing to drag her under and over the back of the creature, landing another blow to the back of its head with her rapidly spinning weapon. He then leaped off it's back as it struck at her with the barrel of the cannon, weaving between and chopping at its legs to little effect. She then cartwheeled backward, a clone taking a hit for her as she then leaped upward sinking her sword into the drone's chin and fired shot after shot into its neck. She kicked off its chest, using another clone to tank a hit and send her even further back, landing next to Adam, his blade now wreathed in red-light.

The drone moved to make another combo-shot, and Adam turned, to her yelling, "Move!"

Blake obliged, leaping away and kneeling down behind a crate, Ilia alighting at her side with a tense expression on her face.

The drone fired, and Adam raised his blade edge first, not deflecting the shot but seeming to draw it into his blade, and into his body as red-fire began to play across his entire form, his eyes glowing from with his mask, his body turning a pitch black.

The drone leaped towards him, intent on bringing it's likely several tone weight done on top of him, only for Adam to lash out, a burst of red-and-black energy-burning across the creatures form as it fell backward, disintegrating into clumps of black ash that was swiftly blown away by the wind.

Adam stood up, his weapon disappearing back into his arm as the energy dissipated, leaving him standing with a triumphant smirk on his face. A cheer went up from the rest of the White Iris members, as he turned to look at Blake and Ilia.

The latter smiled over at her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "We did it!"

The rush of excitement and adrenaline fled Blake's body as Adam turned back to the car holding the Atlas guards and the weaponry, "Alright people, back to work, the world has yet to hear our message."

"Do you have any idea how crazy you sound!" Blake cried, causing him to round on her

"These people didn't do anything wrong!" she continued, "Why should we take their lives, the only message that sends is that people should hate us!"

"They already hate us!" Adam barked, stalking towards her, "Humans, Omnics, we don't match either of their molds We're just 'Broken Weapons', 'Warped Mistakes', Monsters! So why not act the part!"

"This won't get you what you want!" Blake cried, panic overtaking her as she looked around at the others, who were staring between Adam and Blake, Ilia focusing mainly at Blake.

"What if I want this?" Adam countered, stalking further towards her.

"I can't-what happened to you?" Blake choked out, "What happened to the person I fell in love with?"

Adam tensed slightly, a flicker of doubt on his face for a second, as the others' heads snapped to look at him.

His expression steeled once more, "I got tired of hiding. Now darling, are you with us or against us?"

Blake stared up at him, rigid, the only comfort Ilia's hand brushing against hers when a gun-shot ran out, startling her as a bullet cut a long line across Adam's mask and slammed into the back of the rising Lieutenant, sending him to his knees in a torrent of sparks once more.

Blake turned, as Adam jolted away from her and caught sight of an older Human man dressed in a red poncho, over battered brownish-yellow chest armor, brown pants with leather chaps overtop them, brown leather boots with stirrups, a belt with the word BAMF on his waist, and a scarred cowboy's hat atop his head. A six-shooter was held in his one hand, the end smoking, while another was holstered on his hip next to several long metallic tubes. His right hand, a robotic prosthetic raised to his bearded mouth as he pulled a cigar away and puffed a cloud of smoke into the air. He tilted his head upwards revealing kind brown eyes, though they were set in a determined grimace.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I think I speak for the girl when I say you need to back the hell off." Jesse McCree stated, as he flicked his cigar aside and drew his other pistol in one fluid motion.

Adam snarled, "Kill him!"

"Ten, no eleven on one? Now those are my kind of odds!" the cowboy laughed, pulling back the hammer of both guns.

**And scene, tune in next time for the bombastic conclusion, alongside a different perspective when it comes to this little train heist. Hope you enjoyed it, remember any comments, questions, or concerns are always appreciated. This has been VerBeeker, signing off!**


	5. Outcasts Part II

**Let's get ready to rumble! Adam vs McCree place your bets but first, we have to take a step backward in time. **

**Chapter V: Outcasts Part II**

Another day, another train.

That's what his life had become, hopping from train to train, running from the authorities sure but there was more to it than that.

He was on the hunt.

Looking for someone who had probably gotten the worse hands after Overwatch had been shuttered.

He was going to find her, even if it took months, hell years before he bore any fruit.

But he had to admit, jumping on train number six had not gone as planned.

Firstly, he hadn't been told it was a Schnee DUST Weapons Transport.

Whatever, he'd dealt with worse, than the second snag in the plan had appeared over the rise.

Another band of robbers.

They'd launched off the cliffside like bat's out of hell, parts of their body glinting in the sun either denoting heavy augmentation or that they were Omnics.

"Well Jesse." he muttered to himself, as another explosion rocked the train, "This is one hell of a mess you've gotten yourself in."

He stalked forward, crouching low as he continued forward, heading toward danger as he always had. Though he was mentally kicking himself, and mentally swearing out the person who had set him on this venture.

* * *

"There are two trains, marked for transfer from Helix facilities to Atlas PMC." the gruff man had stated, his dull red eyes looking across his glass of whiskey at McCree.

He looked down at the holomap that had been slid in front of him.

"One heading from Juno down through the Forever Fall on it's way to Vancouver." Qrow continued, "The other is leaving the Californian Republic back to the main US, it'll be moving through the Territories, meaning Route 66."

"Meaning Deadlock," McCree muttered, looking up at the informant.

Qrow Branwen. He had an almost lazy air about him, but his eyes reminded him of Reyes, back before everything had gone to hell. Tired, with a harshness to them that could have cowed anyone with the right glare. This wasn't the first time they'd worked together, but a lot of bad blood had brought that to an end. Now, however, they were sitting down for drinks, and talking about something he'd thought was a pipe dream for quite a while now.

"I'm sure that won't be much of a problem." Qrow muttered, with a slight smirk, "Regardless the Wizard is convinced that what you are looking for is on one of those trains."

McCree felt the weight of the small chip he carried in his pocket, "Why is helping me with this? Why are you?"

"I'm helping because it's my job." Qrow stated, "He's helping because he knows you got _the_ call and he agrees with the message."

"There's always a catch." McCree had fired off, glaring across the table.

"You're right, he's going to want your help in hunting something down." Qrow had agreed.

McCree had gone silent for a while, staring down at the map.

"What's the time frame?" he'd finally asked.

"The train in California leaves in two weeks." Qrow stated, "The one from Juno left yesterday, it'll be in the Forever Fall in four days."

* * *

He'd been out the door before another word had been said, which hindsight was now showing him had been a terrible idea.

Passing into the next car, he paused taking in the car about him. Several large containers sat in the middle, while a series of lockers ran along both sides. A computer terminal sat near the other end, which he immediately headed towards.

With the sounds of gunfire and explosions growing increasingly louder, he figured any of the train's personnel were definitely occupied, meaning watching for cameras wasn't necessary.

Still, he had to be quick about this, the attackers could be headed this way at any moment, and people were likely in danger.

He tapped away at the computer, bringing up the cargo manifest. Rapidly scanning the listed items nothing stood out. He slipped a small purple disk out of a pouch on his belt and slapped it onto the console. A vibrant purple image of a Mexican Sugar Skull appeared on screen for a moment, the screen flashing briefly before the manifest reappeared, showing all of its black-listed cargo.

He'd found the disk in his bags alongside a note that had read, "For when you are in a tight spot cowboy." after a miserable New Year's drinking himself into a stupor in a bar south of the border.

He mentally thanked his unexpected helper once more and quickly scanned down the full manifest.

It was immediately evident what he was looking for wasn't onboard the train, but the list of heavy ordnance caught him by disgusted surprise.

Titan-Grade EMP Grenades.

Titanium Tipped Tracer Rounds.

Rust Bombs.

Weaponry made solely for the destruction and killing of Omnics, much of which had been deemed unlawful by the Geneva Convention following the end of the War, yet here Schnee was, building and selling the heavy heat.

Clicking away at the keyboard, several panels opened up along the wall of the train car, revealing the offending weaponry.

As McCree turned around, he heard the sound of metal feet hitting the floor and whirled, a bullet barking free of one of his hand cannons and punching clean through the charging drones head before it could take another step. Its body careened to the floor and scraped slowly to a halt, as several others revealed themselves from within the cargo.

McCree gritted his teeth, rolling under a calculated swing, his other pistol coming up, and firing a shot clean through the drone's knee sending it stumbling.

Flipping that gun into the air, he slid down onto one knee, skidding past two of the drones. He fanned the hammer of his main hand cannon, six bullets firing up the torso of the drone until the gun finally kicked up into its head. As that one teetered backward, he surged to his feet, his robotic arm coming up and landing a devastating haymaker. He whirled, catching his other gun in hand and firing a shot, catching the drone in the back of the head and leaving it still.

He fired one last shot, firing into the top of the kneecapped drone's head, and followed that up by scanning the area for new attackers. Catching none in sight, he rapidly reloaded both guns and holstered the one in his off-hand.

He jumped over several crates, making his way to the open panels of the wall, as the biggest explosion yet shook the train.

He stared at the grenades and ammo containers for several seconds, before grabbing a set of pistol rounds marked with a lightning bolt, and snagging one of the grenades.

Snagging the hack-bot from the terminal he backed into the doorway, taking aim at a parcel of DUST rounds, marked with **EXPLOSIVE**, and paused.

His finger itched to pull the trigger, but that would mean drawing attention to his part of the train. He stood waiting for several moments, and as the first rumblings of another explosion further up the train caught his ears he fired.

The round detonated immediately, starting a chain reaction that promptly ripped a hole in the side of the train, sending the remaining arms cracking against the ground as the train roared onward.

Whirling around he raced forward, passing through several cars the shattered remains of drones lying all about him.

He skidded to a halt as the door in front of him opened. He rolled behind a set of stacked crates, peering around the corner, finally getting a look at the other train-hoppers.

He was surprised to see a pair of Fauns, both masked, one with curling metallic horns on the side of their head, the other with an arm that ended in a large mechanical claw.

They began rifling through the assembled weapon crates, the one with the claw speaking up.

"You think this will be a good place to put the charges?" she asked.

"Good a place as any." came a gruff, male reply.

"_So, not here to steal the train, they're going to turn it into a speeding bomb." _McCree thought to himself, "_Are they planning on blowing it once they get off, or are they going to wait and detonate it the second it hits Vancouver?"_

"_Neither's good." _he amended silently, drawing a cigar and his lighter from another one of his pouches.

He stood up and turned around the crates, lighting his cigar and bringing it to his mouth as he did so.

"Afternoon," he said in a mock friendly tone, catching the Fauns by surprise.

The woman whirled, her claw extending towards him while the man raised his rifle.

Moving quickly, McCree ripped a flashbang off his belt and tossed it directly at the man. He turned to not be blinded by the flash, and spun into the woman's embrace, his metallic elbow cracking her in the base of the jaw.

He then fired a shot from the hip, catching the man in the gut. He flinched forward, and McCree aimed a kick at his head. The woman grabbed McCree by the back of the neck and pulled him backward, air meeting the other man's feet instead of his steel-toed boots.

"Getting a little handsy there," he remarked, pistol-whipping her in the knee, and following it up with a left-handed punch that she fell into, worsening the blow. She careened backward, swinging at him with her clawed hand, he rolled out of the way shoulder checking the recovering hand as he did so.

He got to his feet, getting in his kick that time sending the man to the ground and then ducked a tossed crate as the woman charged towards him. He side-stepped bringing his knee up into her gut and followed that blow up with a viscous pistol-whip to the back of the head. She slumped forward, sprawled across her teammate, allowing McCree to finally take a full drag of his cigar.

Stepping off their unconscious forms, he passed through another train car and quickly noted the already set charge beeping menacingly in the center of the room.

Holstering his second gun, he knelt to disarm it when the sound of raised voices caught his attention.

He crept forward heading towards the wide-open door. He slid up to the wall, standing to his full height, and quickly began to switch out the bullets in his main hand cannon for the Schnee rounds.

"These people didn't do anything wrong!" a female voice cried, "Why should we take their lives, the only message that sends is that people should hate us!"

"They already hate us!" a growling male voice shouted back, "Humans, Omnics, we don't match either of their molds. We're just 'Broken Weapons', 'Warped Mistakes', monsters! So why not act the part.

McCree cautiously looked around the corner, taking in the argument. Nine or so Fauns stood about, watching the confrontation, between a younger woman with wide cat-like mechanical antenna atop her head and long black hair and an older man who stood nearly eight feet tall on his Bastion-like legs, with vibrant red hair and backward-facing metallic horns.

He was bearing down on her while another girl, masked with long reddish-brown hair, was reaching out towards the clearly distressed girl.

"This won't get you what you want!" the black-haired girl cried, looking around the group.

"What if I want this?" the man asked, pushing even closer in on her.

McCree noticed another Faun, even bigger than the one menacing the girl was beginning to push themselves to their feet, his mechanical spine taking up the background of the argument as McCree's eyes zeroed in.

"I can't-what happened to you." the girl choked out, "What happened to the person I fell in love with."

The man seemed to pause, "I got tired of hiding. Now darling, are you with us or against us?"

He pushed his face even closer to hers, the sneer on his face predatory and manipulative, and it was at that moment McCree opened fire.

His bullet cut a groove across the man's mask, punching forward to catch the massive Faun in the back, igniting in a burst of electricity that sent him to his knees.

The assembled Faun's whirled towards him as he stood into the open, his main gun pointed forward. He reached for his cigar and puffed a cloud of smoke into the air, a biting smile on his face.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I think I speak for the girl when I say you need to back the hell off," he stated, flicking his cigar aside and drawing his second gun seamlessly.

"Kill him!" the red-haired man roared. The assembled Fauns, excluding the black-haired girl, moved in on him.

"Ten, no eleven to one? Now, these are my kind of odds!" Jesse laughed, pulling back the hammer on each gun.

Twelve shots.

Time to make them count.

He shoulder checked the nearest Faun, pistol-whipping another as they tried to tackle him to the ground, flipping his off-hand into the air, he pulled a flashbang.

He tossed it at his feet and rolled backward, catching his gun and firing off two shots. One cracked a faun in the mechanical elbow, sending their arm skitting across the ground.

The other caught the leader in the chest, sending an arc of electricity running through his body.

The brown-haired girl lunged towards him, with a series of kicks. He ducked out of the way of several, hooking his foot behind her left and pulling she fell backward, and he caught her with his mechanical hand, the barrel of his gun pointed at the center of her forehead.

Time seemed to slow down, as he took in one that she was unarmed, and two how young she looked. His finger came off the trigger, and he looked up to see a red blade cutting towards his neck. Dropping her he dodged backward, feeling the blade nick his chin as he did so.

Ignoring the flash of pain, he unloaded another two shots, catching a heavily armored Faun in the forehead, electricity ripping across their body, but they'd live. The other was a kneecapper, sending the victim writhing as he caught a rare bit of flesh.

Eight shots left.

He rounded once more, and a metal fist collided into his back, sending him flying across the open-air car, almost falling off the train.

His off-hand gun fell free of his hand however and disappeared off the side of the train without a sound.

"Damn," McCree muttered.

Four shots.

He went to get to his feet and instead was dragged off them and into the air as the red-hair man held him aloft.

"An Overwatch castaway." the Faun remarked, sneering up at him, "How rare."

"A terrorist." McCree snarked back, "How common,"

"Terrorists, freedom fighters, revolutionary." the Faun rambled, squeezing McCree's neck tighter, "The Fauns will be called many things before we are given what we deserve."

"A cold jail cell in a high-security prison?" McCree mocked, as he slowly reached behind his back with his mechanical arm.

"We've been outcasts for too long." the man remarked, "That ends today."

"Adam, please." the black-haired girl said, taking a step towards him, only to wither under the absolute vicious glare the man sent her way.

"Enough Blake!" Adam yelled, "Fall in line!"

"You know," McCree interrupted, sparing the girl a glance, and kind smile, "I was an outcast too. Overwatch had this whole, spiel about it."

Adam turned back to him with a glare, "Your point?"

"My point is I was a criminal, but I never took the lives of innocent people in my hands and tried to play savior. I never planned to blow up a city!" McCree yelled.

Adam flinched, and McCree knew in that instant, his second guess for the charges had been more on point than he could have hoped.

Blake pulled her weapon in that instant, pointing it at Adam, who turned to look at her, betrayal written across his features.

"Put him down!" she ordered, "This is insane!"

She was looking around at the assembled Fauns, and McCree could see her world cracking, further and further as instead of siding with her, most of the Fauns slowly turned their weapons on her, all except the brown-haired girl, who was sitting up and staring at Blake.

Adam snarled and turned back to him, "You talk too much!"

He began to extend his arm to dump Jesse off the train, halting as McCree smirked.

"Actually, I think I talk just the right amount," McCree stated as he pulled out the active EMP grenade clenched in his robotic hand and held it before Adam's masked face as it detonated.

The effect was instant as a pulse of energy surrounded the both of them, Adam began to scream and shudder as the mechanisms throughout his body began to spark and short out. McCree felt his mechanical arm go limp at his side, and as he dropped to the ground he lifted his remaining gun.

Four bullets, time to make them count.

The world seemed to slow, as he lined up his shots.

* * *

Blake stared around in shock as the train car was consumed with madness, Adam was screaming and clutching at his chest as the EMP wreaked havoc on him while the cowboy dropped to the ground and turned.

He fired three times, so quickly her eyes couldn't even track it. There was a sound of a ricochet as the first bullet caught one of her former allies in the chest and sent them to the ground, pinging off the corner of a metallic crate to catch another in the knee.

The second shot passed through the shoulder of a large Faun with an underslung machine-gun in hand, grazed along the cheek of another, and now slowed caught the final grunt in the head with a metallic cracking sound as it shattered their mask and sent them careening backward, unconscious but bloody.

The third shot caught the rising Lieutenant in the lower jaw, electricity frying across their head as the metal dented inwards part of the mask shattering from the impact.

Blake darted forward, as Adam fought through the pain, his blade coming up to sink deeply into the cowboy's torso.

She tackled the man backward, a clone pushing them even further forward and taking Adam's blow. The landed on the back of the next car, still smoking from the spider-drone's attack.

Looking up she saw Ilia moving after them, a hand reaching towards her.

"Blake?" the other girl asked, so many questions and emotions flitting about her name, left unanswered as Adam menacingly stood to his full height.

In one quick motion, Blake severed the connection between the two trains. The change in momentum was immediate, as the severed cars slowed and she and her "rescuer" pulled away.

With a look of utter rage, Adam leaped after them, his blade extended.

Her weapon snapped backward, transforming as it did so and wrapped around the set charge that sat behind her. She pulled up and over her head, sending the explosive package careening towards the man she had loved for so long.

A gunshot rang out, and the charge detonated, consuming Adam in a burst of fire and smoke. He soared backward landing on the slowing car as the train pulled further away.

The cowboy lowered his gun, and fell backward, breathing out a sigh of relief as his mechanical arm began to twitch back to life.

Blake looked back at the rapidly disappearing train cars, Adam's rage-filled scream, and Ilia's shocked face the last things she heard and saw before the train whipped around a corner of the cliffside.

She closed her eyes, frustrated tears welling up in her eyes as she thought about her friend and whatever Adam had become, and turned to look up at the red-leaf choked sky.

"Thanks for the save uh…" the cowboy said, sitting up and moving to the edge of the train car, dangling his feet over the edge without a care in the world.

Blake looked down at him and was taken aback at the genuine friendliness and worry in his eyes as he looked up at her.

"Blake." she stated softly, "My name is Blake."

"Jesse McCree, at your service." the man responded with a joking smile, tipping his hat to her. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a cigar, which he promptly lit, "But I bet you knew that."

In hindsight, as the adrenaline and fear of the past several minutes began to disappear, she did.

"You really saved my hide back there." he remarked, holding up his gun with a smirk, "Only had one shot left."

"Why are you being so friendly?" she asked, cagily, "I'm a criminal. A terrorist, like Adam."

McCree shrugged noncommittedly, "What can I say, I'm a friendly guy and I don't really have a right to judge, I'm not exactly loved by the authorities at the moment either."

"And tell me if I'm wrong, but you were the only one trying to stop things from getting worse before I butted my way into that conversation," he said, puffing out a cloud of smoke that was ripped away by the racing wind around them.

"How'd you know we were going to be doing this?" she asked, glaring at him slightly, more annoyed than worried about his laidback attitude.

"I didn't." he returned, looking up at her, "I was here for my own reasons."

"What reasons?" she asked.

"I'm looking for someone." McCree stated, "Didn't find them, but destroying some illegal weaponry and saving a train from a fanatic isn't exactly a day wasted."

She sat down, joining him in his precarious position at the back of the train. A soft, awkward silence emerged and lasted for several moments before she spoke up.

"So what happens now?" she asked, "Are you going to turn me in?"

The older man rolled his eyes, "Well, as I said since I'm a wanted criminal that's not very likely at all now is it. This train stops in Vancouver, once we get there and manage to shake any authorities, we can go out separate ways."

Blake turned back, watching the red-leaves whirl and dance in the draft coming off the train.

"Unless of course, you wouldn't mind slumming it with a former agent of Overwatch for a while," McCree added, drawing her attention back to him.

"Why would I do that?" she asked, staring at him cautiously.

"The person who sent me looking for this train clued me into another, which likely has the person I'm looking for, she can take you to meet him." McCree stated, "It'd be safer than living on the run on your own, and well let's just say he's got a place for 'outcasts' like us."

Blake was quiet for several moments, staring at him, trying to parse how genuine he was being if she could trust him if she should trust him before finally speaking up, "Tell me more."

**And Scene! Next time, we get to the final member of Team RWBY, and her introduction might be more than a little familiar for most Overwatch fans.**

**But there you have it, Blake and McCree are going to be bumming around the US together for a bit, not sure how many chapters I plan to write for that before I get to McCree finding his **_**totally**_ **mysterious friend.**

**Ilia and Adam **_**will**_ **return, with characters both expected, unexpected, and entirely new.**

**This has been VerBeeker, signing off!**


	6. Wake Up Call

**So time to get into the finale introductory chapter, Yang's coming in with a Bang baby! **

**Chapter VI**

**Wake Up Call**

**The Neo Smithsonian, Atlas Autonomous Zone, 10:30 EST**

Yang smiled softly as she watched her younger sister dart between the exhibits of the vast museum.

It had been their father's idea, a day trip for the two of them while he was away on business.

* * *

"_So, I heard from a friend of mine that the Neo Smithsonian is finally opening their Overwatch exhibit." her father said with a slowly growing smile as Ruby had frozen, strands of spaghetti hanging down from her mouth, "And since I'm going to be out of town for a bit, I decided to get you both tickets."_

_He produced them with a flourish, Ruby tackle hugging him with a somewhat garbled, excited squeal. Yang laughed as their father had nearly fallen out of his chair at the abrupt display of affection._

"_Thank you!" Ruby cried, "Thank you! Thank you!"_

"_Calm down there Rosebud," Tai laughed as he ruffled his younger daughter's hair, "But you're welcome."_

"_So do we just have tickets for the exhibit?" Yang asked, accepting her ticket as her father slid it across the table to her._

"_Nah, you guys get to visit the whole shebang if you want to," Tai stated._

"_That's...pretty expensive," Yang muttered, flipping the plastic card over in her hands._

"_I mean, maybe, but it's better than you guys getting stuck in the apartment." Tai said with a shrug, before sending his youngest daughter a pointed look, "Or wandering the streets."_

_Ruby's smile faded slightly, as she turned back to her food picking at it half-heartedly._

"_I-" Ruby began only for Tai to cut her off._

"_I know. I just want you both to be safe, especially with how crazy the world has been lately." Tai state, sighing slightly._

"_We know." the sisters had said at the same time._

_Later that night Ruby had headed off to her room, quietly muttering about everything she wanted to see, leaving Yang alone with their dad._

_Yang spoke up as her dad got up to clean the dishes._

"_Is, is it really a good idea to let her see all of that Overwatch stuff?" Yang asked._

"_Why wouldn't it be?" Tai fired back, "You two practically grew up on base, I'm betting most of the stuff there you've already seen before even if you don't remember it."_

"_She wanted to join up with Winston, dad, probably still wants to." Yang stated, "Don't you think to let her get immersed in all of that again will just make her want to do it more?"_

_Tai sighed, "Your sister's heart is in the right place, we know that but she rushes into things without thinking, so did you which is probably on me and Summer."_

_Yang smiled softly, "But things change."_

"_Not always for the better," Tai stated, staring down into the sink, "Your sister is trying to do the right thing, like the both of us always told you two. The world doesn't match what she wants it to be, and she's ready to fight to make it better. It's admirable, it makes me proud, you both do, but I don't want her getting hurt because of this, which is why…"_

"_Why I've got her back," Yang stated, getting up and giving her father a hug, "Don't worry dad, I can wrangle Little Miss Dash while you're away."_

"_What about my Sunny Little Dragon?" he asked, looking down at her, "I know things have been difficult since…"_

"_I-I'm good, dad," Yang muttered, a partial truth._

* * *

Yang snapped back the present as Ruby darted back and grabbed her hand.

"Come on slow-poke!" Ruby cried with a laugh as she dragged her forward.

"What's the rush?" Yang asked, pulling back and causing Ruby to trip forward into a hug, "We've got all day."

"I know," Ruby said, as they both looked up to see holograms of a Blue Whale and it's calf swimming above their head in slow motion, "But I want to see the exhibit now!"

"Why?" Yang asked with a smile, "Why not save it for later? We could go see the Dinosaur exhibits?"

"Holograms and dusty old bones." Ruby mock-scoffed, "That's ancient history."

"Ruby almost everything in here is ancient history." Yang deadpanned, eliciting a laugh from her younger sister.

"Well yeah, but this is _our_ history," Ruby stated, gesturing to the holographic sign of a rotating Overwatch symbol.

Yang smiled and relented allowing Ruby to drag her through the milling crowd and into the exhibit.

The room was bright with white floors lit by grand windows that showed the vista of Atlas beyond, green parks, and soaring skyscrapers resplendent under the nearing-noonday sun.

Yang's eyes fell on a younger boy in a blue hoody pulled up over her head with an even younger boy who she guessed was his younger brother in an orange t-shirt with a green cast on his left arm.

The older brother seemed to be sulking, while the younger was absolutely overjoyed at everything he looked at.

Yang found it both adorable and more than a little ironic as she turned her eyes to her own excitable sibling.

Her younger sister immediately darted over to a large holographic globe and began reciting the names of all of the Overwatch Bases.

Yang watched with a smile, before turning in and taking in the other exhibits. Familiar weaponry, uniforms, and busts of different individuals caught her eyes everywhere she looked.

Commander Morrison's face stared back at her from across the room, his face more impassive than the rare times she'd seen it in life as a kid.

Ruby darted past her with an excited gasp, Yang followed her gaze and then stared upwards as looming above the rest of the room was an immense green mech-suit with red-and-white detailing. The placard on the pedestal read, "Callsign: Goliath."

"Do you remember him?" Ruby asked.

Yang nodded, "Kind of hard to forget a giant sis."

Goliath had been one of the members her parents had dealt the most with, she remembered one particular interaction.

* * *

_She chased Ruby down through several doors, both giggling loudly. Several younger agents parted as the sisters dodged between them, enraptured in their game of tag._

"_I'm gonna get you!" Yang cried, stretching her hand out._

"_No, you won't!" Ruby had giggled, running faster until suddenly she had shot ahead of Yang leaving behind a scattering of what looked like glowing flower petals._

_Yang had tripped over herself in surprise but pushed forward going through the door and freezing when she saw Ruby running ahead of her. Her younger sister turned around and gave her laughed, not noticing the immense foot that was coming down in front of her._

"_Ruby!" Yang cried, feeling her whole body ignite from the rush of her emotions, eliciting gasps from the agents behind her._

_Then there was a flash of blue, and Ruby disappeared. Yang rushed forward and giving out a happy sigh when she spotted the five-year-old currently wrapped in the arms of one Lena Oxton._

_Yang's eyes had been drawn from her sister and her "savior" skyward at the massive mech looking down at them all._

"_Cadet." a friendly voice rumbled out, gruff and deep, "Nice save."_

"_I imagine Captain Rose would have had a word or two with us if her little Bud here had smacked herself into your shin." Lena joked, tickling Ruby causing her to squirm and giggle._

"_Probably." Goliath stated, turning to look down at Yang, "You have the little ladies in hand Cadet?"_

_Lena took Yang's hand, "Now I do. I'll get'em back to their mum."_

"_No more tag in the vehicle bay you here." Goliath had stated as Lena had taken the sisters away, eliciting a giggle from Yang, as the massive mech had begun to disassemble._

* * *

Yang was drawn from her memory by an angry voice behind her, she turned and spotted the brothers again.

"That's just in the holovids!" the older brother snapped, turning away from the younger, "Everybody knows Overwatch got shutdown. Half of em are just mercenaries now."

She saw Ruby wince out of the corner of her eye and let out a low sigh.

The kid was young, but he wasn't far off the money. Overwatch had meant something to a lot of people. For Ruby and Yang, it had been a family, a home, and then it had all come crashing down. Familiar faces had kept disappearing until eventually none had been left in their life outside of their dad and…

"Mom," Ruby muttered softly.

Yang turned around and caught sight of another statue. It was of smiling woman with, short-cropped hair, dressed in military combats and a long-hooded cloak. Her hands rested on her hips, and her face was turned slightly upward giving her an air of confidence.

As the sisters stepped closer Yang could make out the writing on the pedestal, "Captain Summer Rose, Agent of Overwatch, Mother, Guardian, Hero."

Yang looked up into the smiling facsimile of the woman who had raised her as her own for most of her life and felt a stabbing pain in her chest.

She felt tears begin to well up in her eyes and saw Ruby's do the same. She reached out and dragged her sister into a tight hug.

"Did...did Dad know this was going to be here?" Ruby asked, tears leaking from her eyes.

"I don't know." Yang stated, "I don't think so."

"I miss her," Ruby muttered.

"So do I," Yang stated.

"Nothing has made sense since she…" Ruby trailed off, nuzzling into Yang's hair.

Yang made to respond when an explosion shook the building.

Gasps and cries filled the air around them as the other Museum-goers tensed, staring around fearfully.

Another explosion rocked the building and people began to run.

Yang looked around frantically and saw the brothers frozen in the middle of the room, the younger staring up at some with a shocked expression.

Her eyes traveled upwards and she gasped as an armor-clad gorilla smashed through the glass roof and landed in a heap on the ground directly to her left.

A blue-skinned woman in an odd skintight purple suit with a distractingly deep neckline leaped off her opponent and fired a grappling hook from beneath her wrist. She wore an odd helmet over her face, which vaguely resembled the head of a spider with multiple red eyes.

Yang turned as Winston, surged to his feet and took in the situation.

There was a loud crack, and Yang whirled back around spotting the woman now perched atop a catwalk, a strangely shaped sniper rifled clasped in her hands. The barrel was smoking, and the woman fired another shot which pinged off Winston's armor. She turned to grab Ruby only to see her younger sister darting behind a pedestal with both of the younger boys in tow.

Winston lunged in front of Yang as another shot rang out, the gorilla giving her a sheepish smile and adjusting his glasses, "Enjoying the exhibit?"

Several more shots cracked across his back, leading him to let out a frustrated snarl. He pushed her backward, "Get to cover!"

She complied ducking behind a pedestal, spotting her sister several feet away with the two younger boys, rapidly going through a bag on her hip.

Yang watched a small metal rod appear in her sister's hands and she charged ignoring the bullet fire and slid across the ground to end up beside her sister and the terrified younger boys.

"Don't you even think about it!" Yang hissed, grabbing her sister by both wrists.

Ruby jumped and tried to tug free, "He needs help!"

"Not from a fifteen-year-old girl!" Yang snapped, "He can do this on his own."

Ruby made to refute that when the strange sound of wind being blown across sand drew their attention. The sisters peaked around the corner and spotted a figure clad entirely in black leather with a white mask partially resembling a skull. They held a pair of black shotguns in their hands and with a dark chuckle immediately began to unload on Winston. The bullets smoked a red and black vapor as they struck the gorilla, who began to back up under the barrage.

Ruby tensed and tried to pull away from Yang, only for her sister to hold on tighter.

Then another voice spoke up, jovial and snarky, "Psst, what ya looking at?"

Yang looked up as the sniper fired another grappling hook and swung down from her perch, her gun firing off a hail of bullets. Darting through the air was another woman, disappearing in flashed of brilliant blue energy: Tracer.

Ruby let out an excited gasp as the woman flipped in the air, opening fire with her own pistols. She flashed through the air, almost seeming to fly as she fired before touching down to the ground. Both women hit the ground, the sniper continuing to fire as she twisted and turned trying to hit the teleporting, weaving flurry of motion that was Tracer.

Meanwhile, Winston barreled through the shotgun fire, the black-clad figure backing further and further away from them.

"Move," Yang ordered as the fighting got too close to their current hiding place. She pushed the younger boys ahead of her, her hands still clamped around Ruby's wrists. They ducked behind a podium as Winston clambered up one of the exhibits and launched himself at the sniper with a roar.

His blow cracked the concrete as the attackers fell in together, the black-clad one dropping his shotguns and pulling out a pair with a slightly different configuration. Yang winced as several explosions of fire and smoke erupted from the gun. Grenade after grenade pelted Winston pushing him back.

"Winston!" Tracer yelled from behind a podium. She teleported into the air directly into Winston's awaiting hand. With a snarl he chucked her forward, propelling her next teleport even further.

With a grin Tracer appeared next to the sniper and continued to weave between bullets, twirling and spinning in the air to avoid being hit while the sniper endeavored once more to escape her using her grappling hook.

Tracer whirled on the shotgun-wielding attacker and opened fire, who returned fire only to turn as Winston charged towards him.

"Die!" the figure yelled in a raspy voice, their shotguns barking out shot after shot of bullets.

"Where are the guards," Yang muttered as she hunted for a way out of the situation, before turning anxiously back to the fight.

The black-clad figure paused in their shooting, dropping their shotguns as their hands contorted into claws.

"Yes!" the figure snarled as smoke began to surround their body.

The smoke suddenly erupted into an immense cloud as the figure cackled madly, covering much of the room. The figure began to spin unnaturally fast, another pair of shotguns appearing in their hands as they began to fire in every direction.

Yang hugged her sister and the two boys close to her body as she felt one of the bullets struck her in the back. Her body flared with energy, and she heard the little boy gasp in amazement as for a brief moment her hair ignited.

The hail of bullets continued, stone and glass shattering all around them. There was a sound of shoes hitting the floor right next to them and Yang looked up to see Tracer hiding behind a podium directly to their right. The older woman winced as the mechanism in her chest, crackled and dulled and then looked over spotting Yang, Ruby, and the two younger boys.

Ruby was staring at the woman expectantly, while both of the younger boys were looking at her in awed confusion.

"Uh, don't work luvs, cavalry's here." Tracer stated, with a smile.

Ruby and the younger brother gasped excitedly, eliciting a confused look from the older brother and almost dragging a laugh out of Yang.

Yang peered back around their podium, accidentally mimicking Tracer as the firing became concentrated somewhere else.

Yang felt her heart sank at the sight of Winston weathering the constant barrage, and it sank even further when he leaped as the attacker and passed right through him as if he was made of smoke.

Winston collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily, his glasses clattering across the ground.

"Come on big guy, get up!" Tracer ordered as Yang watched her fight her own worry.

"Winston…" Ruby breathed, and she once more tugged against Yang's hands, fighting to get to her role model.

"Ruby no!" Yang hissed, desperate to keep her sister out of harm's way.

There was a shattering of glass, followed by an alarm. Turning Yang spotted the sniper stalking towards a ruined display case, where a black and gold gauntlet hovered, glinting in the sunlight.

"Oh no!" the younger brother gasped, Ruby kept trying to worm her way free of Yang's grasp, as they bother turned back to Winston.

He was struggling to push himself to his feet, and let out a pained sigh as the black-clad figure stopped before him, loading another bullet into the chamber of one of his guns.

Yang couldn't breathe, as she felt her sister begin to worm her way free of her grasp.

The figure paused, looking down at Winston's glasses and casually lifted a foot and stepped on them in a moment of utter pettiness.

Winston suddenly surged to his feet, yellow lightning crackling across his skin as his face and body suddenly turned different shades of red.

His eyes glowed from within with yellow light, and as he let out a feral roar he swung for his attacker immediately putting them on the back foot.

"Yeah!" Tracer shouted, as her chest-piece and weapons began to glow once more teleporting back into the fight as the sniper whirled around at Winston's renewed attacks.

Yang looked over to where the gauntlet hung, unguarded, and saw the boys looking up at her for guidance, on the preface that she was the oldest person still sitting there she assumed.

"I can grab it." Ruby stated, "Just let me go. She'll never see me, I'm too fast."

"No," Yang stated, giving her sister a harsh look.

Ruby made to argue, only for Yang to release her wrists and grab her by the shoulders.

"Stay here," Yang ordered, pointing at the two boys beside them, "Keep them safe."

"But you could get hurt," Ruby muttered.

"Like you wouldn't?" Yang countered, giving her sister a quick hug, "Trust me."

She turned to look at the boys, the younger gasping once more at the sight of her glowing red eyes.

Tracer soared through the air, firing at the shotgun-wielder, Winston charging him once more. The purple-skinned woman was too busy firing at them to notice Yang as she darted toward the display and quickly snagged the gauntlet.

Hugging it close to her chest she cautiously peeked around the corner and saw the woman looking about with a confused sneer on her face.

Winston and Tracer charged the black-clad figure, the latter leaping over his head to draw his attention allowing Winston to grab him as he turned and slammed him to the ground.

With a furious snarl, Winston pulled his hands overhead and brought them down only the figure to turn to smoke in his grasp.

Yang tried to quiet her breathing as the sniper stalked around.

"Watch out!" Yang turned terrified as she saw the little boy appear from behind his hiding place. Ruby pulled him back and pressed him into the arms of his brother, stepping forward to shield them with her body as the sniper turned.

The world seemed to slow to a crawl as the woman's strange mask snapped closed over her eyes, and she began to raise her sniper rifle.

Without thinking she slipped the gauntlet over her arm, feeling it lock into place and stood up.

"Hey!" she yelled, and then she felt a searing pain as the woman whirled and fired a shot, point-blank, directly into her forehead.

"No!" Ruby screamed as Winston and Tracer whirled, the former snarling savagely, the second horrified.

Yang meanwhile felt her entire body grow warm, as her hair caught fire, and her whole body burned with a feeling of raging strength.

Yang titled her head back, as the bullet fell to the floor, revealing a dent to her forehead by no serious damage. The sniper blinked several times, raising her gun only for Yang to surge forward.

With a cry of rage, Yang punched the woman with all her might, using the Doomfist's gauntlet.

There was an explosion of energy, fire, and the sounds of metal and bone-breaking as the sniper went flying. Yang stood there, the ruined gauntlet sliding off her now broken arm and clattering to the floor, a feel of adrenaline like she had never had before numbing the pain and filling her body with excitement.

She had never felt more alive than in this moment.

The Sniper sneered, and pushed herself to her feet, pulling up her gun to fire.

Winston leaped past Yang, his momentum sending her flaming hair whipping in every direction. He landed with a roar, bearing down on the sniper, who opened fire with her miraculously working gun.

The bullets didn't even seem to phase the enraged gorilla as Tracer darted in and with some quick dodging disarmed the sniper and began firing on her with her own weapon.

Firing her grappling hook into the air above her, the sniper soared upwards, a cloud of smoke solidifying into her accomplice, who grabbed her arm and then fired off several grenades to cover their retreat.

Winston ignored the explosions and rocketed into the air, leaping from a hanging plane to an uppermost catwalk before following them out of the same hole he'd cracked in through.

Tracer raced to follow him, pausing and turning to face Yang.

She looked over, seeing a worried Ruby rushing to her side, the brothers just a step behind.

Yang looked down at the ruined gauntlet on the floor and bent to pick it up with her good hand. It was smoking, the fingers contorted in odd ways, several pieces of it now scattered across the floor.

Yang smiled sheepishly, wincing slightly as Ruby accidentally grabbed hold of her broken arm, and handed the gauntlet to Tracer.

Tracer took it, giving Yang and Ruby a once over, a look of recognition briefly appearing on her face.

"You know, the world could always use more heroes." the older woman said.

Yang stared at her for several moments, before a soft smile crossed her face.

Tracer gave her a salute, gently placed the ruined gauntlet back in its display with a soft laugh, and then teleported into the air following after Winston.

Yang stared after her for several moments, mulling over her words as the pain of her arm began to reinsert itself over the adrenaline.

"Yeah! That was awesome!" the younger brother yelled, cutting through her musings. His older brother smiled down at him as he wrapped him in a hug.

The little boy then wrapped Ruby in a hug followed by Yang.

"That was so cool! The glowing hair, and the red eyes!" the boy cried up at her, "How can you do that?!"

"She called you a hero Yang," Ruby said.

"I-" Yang was quiet for a moment, as she looked up, spotting Summer's statue. It had miraculously gone unharmed during the battle, and in the light almost seemed to be looking at her, that confident smile for her and her alone.

"Yeah, I guess she did," Yang muttered.

"Well of course!" the little brother yelled.

Yang laughed softly, clutching her arm, "Alright excitable little stranger, let's go find your parents."

She made sure the boy grabbed her good hand, trying to play off her injury for the moment, even though the pain was eating its way into the center of her brain.

"You're hurt," Ruby whispered, looking down at her hand.

"It could be a lot worse, it could have been you." Yang whispered back, giving her sister a deep smile, "Let's get these kids to their parents then we can worry about me."

Ruby nodded, darting ahead slightly to ask the older boy their names, while Yang found herself lost in thought.

"_I was shot in the head, my arm's broken, my sister could have died." _she listed off in her head, "_So why on earth do I feel so good right now?"_

She looked up at her sister who was giving her this worried, yet proud look, then down at the little boy who was staring up at her still with wide, star-struck eyes.

She thought about Summer, and all those years growing up around Overwatch, flashing back once more to the meeting with Goliath.

"_Is this how they felt?" _she wondered.

Cause if so, then she understood Ruby's drive to follow in her mother's footsteps even more than she had before.

Winston collapsed into his tire-chair exhaustedly, wincing at the hundreds of little bruises that covered his body from the fight.

Tracer let out a long sigh as she did the same.

"That was even more stressful than it should have been," she muttered, as she pushed herself a bit more upright in the chair.

"At least we kept the gauntlet out of there hands." Winstons amended.

"A girl got shot in the head big guy!" Tracer cried, "If she hadn't been a Remnant, she'd have been…"

"Ya." he murmured, shrugging off the dark thoughts that tried to dig their way into his mind.

"I think I know them." Tracer muttered, "We know them."

"The girls?" Winston asked, turning to look at her.

"I think they're Captain Roses kids." Tracer said, "Ruby and Yang."

"They sure have grown," Winston remarked, trying to put together an image of the two in his head from the brief moments he'd seen them.

"Well of course they have you big dolt." Tracer joked, slapping him playfully on the arm, "It's been five years since we saw them."

Winston nodded. Cold memories of a funeral with far too few people coming to pay respects filled his mind.

"Well without Yang they might have gotten away with the Gauntlet." Winston stated, "So, she gets credit for the win."

"A win would have been nabbing them both." Tracer muttered, "Reaper attacked you here, Widow killed Mondatta! Why is it that when we get into a scrap with Talon, the person that comes to help us is a teenage girl, not another Recalled agent?"

Winston agreed with her anger, but as he went to speak another voice cut over him.

"Because the world is a very uncertain place right now."

Tracer leaped to her feet with her guns at the ready, while Winston whirled around in his chair.

Standing before them was a silver-haired man dressed in a black and green suit, with an ornate cane in hand.

A pair of small glasses rested upon his nose, revealing brown eyes.

"Who are you?" Winston asked, his whole body tensing for another fight, "How'd you get in here?"

"I walked." the man stated with a light smile, before raising his hands after his attempted joke didn't land, "Apologies, I flew here, rumor had it that a member of Overwatch was holed up at Gibraltar. I have information you are going to want to hear as well as an offer. As for who I am, you can call me Oz."

"Like the Wizard?" Tracer asked, giving the man an odd look.

Oz chuckled, "If you like."

"What's the offer?" Winston asked, sitting forward.

"I represent a group of individuals who believe that the world is on the brink." Oz began, looking at them both, "And I know you feel the same way."

"We believe that heroes, Overwatch or otherwise are not only needed but required in the current climate." he continued, "Organizations like Talon on the rise, tensions between Omnics and Humans worsening, Remnant trafficking at an all-time high and in some countries encouraged."

"We are prepared to fully support the return of Overwatch, and aid in its growth by any means available to us." Oz finished, "Most importantly, we will be able to _finance_ your missions, I imagine funds have been lacking."

Winston looked around sheepishly at the rather haphazard state of his lab, before turning back to Oz, "What do you want from us in return?"

"To teach, at the school I'm founding, Beacon Academy, to train the next generation of heroes." Oz declared, his voice brimming with confidence, "It will be a safe haven for Remnants and other gifted individuals to grow and learn outside of the constrictive and often cruel politics of the modern world."

"Wouldn't that make it a target?" Tracer asked.

"It could, but I have put a great deal of care into protecting Beacon and the children who will be in attendance." Oz stated, "Having former members of Overwatch as staff members only increase the security of the endeavor."

"We're vigilantes." Winston noted, "Everything we've been doing the past couple months is against the law, wouldn't that draw more attention to the school?"

"I have a plan for that." Oz stated simply, "But we can get into that after a few more pressing matters are taken care of."

"Those being?" Tracer asked cautiously.

"The information I wish to tell you." Oz stated, "My organization has discovered the whereabouts of Mei-Ling Zhou."

"Mei's alive?" Winston asked, shocked to his core, while a wide-smile began to cross Tracer's face.

"Yes, and we have her exact coordinates." Oz replied, "If you do not wish to join me and my compatriots on our endeavors, we fully understand, though we will still aid you in the retrieval of Dr. Zhou. However, I believe wholeheartedly, that Overwatch working alongside Beacon is in the world's best interests."

"So, are you with me?" Oz asked with a coy smile.

**And Scene!**

**So next chapter, the recovery of Mei from the grips of the Arctic, alongside the birth of Beacon Academy, and after that well, McCree and Blake get into more shenanigans.**

**I decided to go this route with Yang's intro mainly because of how I presented her reaction to Ruby's attempted heroics and because it was more than a little fitting.**

**Also, Yang is a Remnant, surprising no-one, however, she doesn't have Aura since it doesn't exist in the Overwatch canon, meaning her powers are even more risk and reward than they already are. Yang's pretty smart though and has more self-care than some folks, so she's not going to be going around Deku-ing herself.**

**The idea that Yang and Ruby are the youngest of the Overwatch Brats sort of just hit me one day and I decided to run with it. On top of that, Goliath is actually a character from RWBY, if you can figure out whomst that is, then you should realize how weird things are going to get eventually. **

**This has been VerBeeker, signing off!**


	7. Reunion Part I

**Another chapter of Remnants coming at you! I've decided that this is the version of the story I will be sticking with. I like this mixture better than Beacon's Watch, and while I might update it occasionally, my attention will be split between Infinity and this story from now on, however, another work might be coming down the pipeline.**

**Overwatch: Remnants Chapter VII**

**Reunion Part I**

Mei was frozen to her core, she'd been walking for what felt like days across the shimmering white expanse of the Antarctic headed for the coast.

Winston's message had galvanized her but now that the chill wind had seeped so deep into her person she had realized she'd been more than a little hasty.

"Mei?" Snowball asked, flitting back to her with a concerned look on his little pixelated face.

"I'm okay Snowball," she reassured, though even she didn't think she sounded all that convincing.

She was tired, and even though she was good when it came to food and water was easily obtainable she knew that if she didn't find one of the outlying settlements soon she was going to be in a whole pile of trouble.

A whirring noise caught her attention, Snowball whirling around as well as it continued to grow.

"It's a helicopter!" Mei cried excitedly, picking up her pace and racing up the hill before them, "Come on Snowball!"

The drone trilled in happiness and flew along behind her as they crested the hill, a resting blue helicopter sitting there as if waiting for her arrival.

She activated her blaster and formed a sheet of ice that allowed her to slide down the hill at a faster pace.

The door on the side of the helicopter opened and Mei fought back tears as Lena Oxton and Winston emerged, dressed in warm winter clothing, a hat adorably askew on the oversized gorilla's head.

Behind them came a tall man with gray hair dressed in a dark green jacket holding an ornate cane who gave her a kind smile.

Lena was wrapped around Mei in an instant, hugging her to the point of nearly choking her but Mei didn't care, melting into the embrace with a tearful smile.

"I'm so glad you're alive!" Lena cried, pulling back to look Mei's face over.

"I am too.' Mei said, looking over the taller woman's shoulder at Winston, who had moved forward awkwardly, "I got your message."

"Really?" Winston asked, looking surprised.

"Yes, I want to join you." Mei stated, giving him a sincere smile, "In rebuilding Overwatch."

A wide smile crossed his face, "I-that-"

"Oh, get in here," Lena said with a smile.

Winston suddenly wrapped them both in a hug, which Mei nestled into, even more, the fought back tears finally breaking free as relief and joy took over. Snowball nuzzled the side of her face with a soft croon.

"You're both so warm," Mei muttered, eliciting a small giggle from Lena.

"Sorry to interrupt," the other man stated, drawing her attention. Winston and Lena released her as he approached, "But if warmth is what you're after how does a hot meal sound?"

"Wonderful," Mei stated with a sincere grin.

"Then let's get you to one," he said with a small smile, turning and climbing back into the helicopter.

Mei followed after him, "Thank you, Mr.-"

"Professor actually, but you can call me Oz." he stated, moving his dark glasses down to reveal kind brown eyes, "Nice to finally meet you."

The helicopter had dropped them off at a small airport on the coast, where the nicest looking plane Mei had ever seen had been waiting for her. Sure enough, a warm meal had been waiting which Mei had dug into with gusto, the other Overwatch Agents grabbing food of their own while Oz sat back in his chair and began flipping through a tablet quietly.

The flight back had begun with Mei explaining everything that had happened at the Ecopoint, with a fair helping of tears to go with it. She had then offered up the data she had collected which had intrigued Oz and Winston immensely.

After the others had taken turns explaining everything Mei had missed in cryo.

Overwatch shutting down, and why.

The deaths of Morrison, Reyes, and Amari.

Renewed conflict between Humans and Omnics.

Remnant trafficking.

Much more had gone wrong than she had hoped, but that only solidified her desire to help.

Oz had stated he had more to tell them about, but that it could wait until they had returned to his place of operations.

The rest of the trip had passed in a flurry of banter, sleep, and surfing the internet which end as they pulled into Chicago's air space.

One car ride later and Mei found herself in the lobby of a skyscraper where numerous individuals dressed in green uniforms were going about their business.

"Welcome to Beacon Tower," Oz stated, as he marched across the lobby, his cane cracking a beat against the marble floor.

He had led them into an elevator without another word, emerging into a pent-house with a glorious view of the glowing skyline beyond.

"Please make yourselves comfortable," Oz stated, gesturing to the living room that sat off to the left, "We have much to discuss."

They'd entered the room and found two people waiting for them, a severe-looking blonde woman holding several datapads, and a scraggly looking man with grayish black hair that was currently downing a glass of bourbon.

"Qrow?" Lena gasped, staring at him.

"Evening Oxton." the man stated with a smile, "Winston, heard you both had a run-in with my nieces."

"I'm sorry that we put them in harm's way," Winston stated, grimacing slightly.

"Ruby would have found it anyway." Qrow stated, sitting forward with a sigh, "It's a good thing you were there, Yang too, I hear."

"She's got one hell of a punch," Lena stated, eliciting a smirk from him.

"Should have seen her after her first breakup," Qrow muttered, finally turning to acknowledge Mei, "Welcome aboard by the way."

"Thank you." Mei stated, looking slightly confused, "Aboard what exactly?"

Oz sat down and turned to her stating, "An organization that I began with the aid of Glynda and Qrow several years before Overwatch came apart at the seams. We believe in the mission, the original mission Overwatch was built upon. Peace in our time."

"Hope for those trapped in fear," Glynda stated.

"A bunch of misfits coming together to try and make the world a better place," Qrow stated with a smirk, earning small smiles from Lena and Winston.

"As the world currently stands, a returned Overwatch can't stand on its own." Oz continued, "You have been unjustly vilified, any of your actions dubbed unlawful and open for persecution."

"Oz's people can help with all of that." Qrow stated, "It's a bit more cloak and dagger than you'd be used to but you'd have the money you need to finance any projects, and places to lie low where Talon wouldn't know how to find you."

"It sounds a bit like Blackwatch," Lena said derisively, giving Qrow a hard look, who had the good conscience to look a bit ashamed of himself.

"We do not seek to manipulate world-powers through fear, blackmail, and the occasional assassination." Glynda stated harshly, "Our main goal is much more altruistic."

"And what is that?" Mei asked.

"Protecting Remnant children," Oz stated, "We have plans in motion to unveil a school, dubbed Beacon Academy, in partnership with several other locations that will serve as safe spaces for them to live, learn and train."

"Train?" Winston asked, staring at him.

"Yes, train." Oz remarked, "The world already sees them as weapons to be exploited, they should be taught how to use their gifts to defend themselves from such predations, and perhaps to protect others."

"The unveiling is in a month." Glynda stated, "And while we have already meticulously approached a number of individuals for faculty positions we are of the belief that ex-members of Overwatch would be a desirable addition."

Winston and Lena shared a look, the latter speaking up, "So we work at your school yet still go on missions to protect the world? How does that not bring the Petras Act down on you? No offense to Mei, but me and especially Winnie are pretty easy to pick out of a crowd."

Mei nodded in agreement, "They would likely have files on every Agent, so they'd likely notice me as well."

"As I said this is going to be a little cloak and dagger," Qrow stated, "But safe to say we have someone who can help with that little issue."

"What is the end goal?" Mei asked.

Oz looked up with a smile, "The same goal Winston had when recalling Overwatch. The world needs to be protected, it needs people that can inspire hope, but more than that these children need something to believe in."

"What is better than themselves?" he continued, as a holographic image appeared of another room where three teenagers were sitting on a couch talking.

"Lie Ren." he pointed to the dark-haired boy who was sitting up straight in his seat with a soft smile on his face, "Not a Remnant but at a young age showed an aptitude for light-bending. His parents were murdered not long after that discovery and he was taken in by Vishkar. They planned to use him as an assassin."

He pointed to the red-haired girl that was sprawled across the couch next to him, "Nora Valkyrie, a Remnant-Runaway who was picked up off the street by Vishkar to be used as a weapon. We found her and Ren in the same compound, they have been inseparable ever since."

He then pointed at the last person, a pale girl with long white hair and a scar over her left eye, she was laughing softly at something Nora had just said but she sat apart from the other two in her own chair.

"She calls herself Winter," Oz began, "A Light-Bender and a Remnant, Qrow broke her out of a Vishkar compound where she was being set up to fight Omnics as a form of training."

"Children being kidnapped to be used as weapons is not something I can abide." Oz stated, "And I doubt you can either."

The Overwatch agents said nothing, though Mei nodded emphatically.

"What about your nieces?" Lena finally asked, turning to Qrow.

"Their old man won't like it but I'm going to be handing them their invitations personally." he stated, "They'll be safer there."

Winston, Mei, and Lena shared a look before turning back to Oz.

"I believe we're on board," Winston stated.

"Wonderful." Oz returned with a grin.

* * *

Blake stared around the empty diner as a slow country song began to play. The sound of the clock was the only other noise that filled the building excluding McCree's soft humming as he sat back down with a piece of apple pie.

"Sure you don't want any?" he asked with a smile, as he picked up his fork.

"I'm not hungry," Blake stated as she turned to look out the window at the orange-tinted canyon to their left. They had hitch-hiked, train-hopped, and on one occasion car-jacked their way down through Canada and into the Territories, the wild-west returned in search of this mysterious "friend" McCree had mentioned. He still refused to tell her exactly who this person was, and while a part of her believed he was tricking her in some way she couldn't help but trust the somewhat goofy cowboy.

"You trusted Adam." a cold voice muttered in the center of her mind, "This will turn out the same way."

Ignoring her snarling doubt she turned back to McCree as he took a sip of coffee and looked down at the strange white chip on the table.

"So is your friend going to be meeting us here?" she asked finally.

"Hopefully," he remarked, rubbing his jaw, "Though some other old pals of mine are going to be coming along as well."

"A proper reunion then." Blake joked as she opened the book he had bought for her when they'd passed through Seattle on their way south. It was another rendition of Sleeping Beauty, involving cryo-sleep, aliens, and an Omnic heroine. It was an interesting read if anything, though she still didn't know why he'd gotten her the gift.

"Seems like," he admitted, taking a bit of pie.

"Is that why you told the cook to clear out?" she asked, not looking up from her book.

"Yep." he returned, taking another deep sip of coffee.

Several moments later, a train sounded from above them, drawing Blake's attention.

"Is that-"

She was cut off by an immense explosion, followed by a sheering crashing sound as the train crashed into the ravine around them. She leaped to her feet as a car struck the ground outside the diner right next to them.

She turned to McCree who was disarmingly stoic as he took another bite of pie, stood up, grabbing the chip off the counter, and slid it into his pocket. He then donned his hat and grabbed his gun.

"Was that your old pals?" Blake accused, her heart beating frantically, her onboard computer hunting for threats.

"Yeah," McCree said, a scowl on his face, "Grab your gun."

She obliged falling in step behind him.

"What are we going to do?" she asked.

"Why, I'm going to talk to my pals." McCree stated with a smile, "See if we can't part amicably."

"And if we can't?" Blake muttered.

"Then I've got your back kid." he returned, walking through the door to the diner and into the dust and smoke beyond.

**And scene!**

**I know this is shorter than usual, but I've been pretty busy this week on top of my sleep schedule getting banjaxed.**

**Hope you enjoyed this brief snippet though, the next chapter will be about McCree and Blake meeting two familiar faces if you know Overwatch, and Oz fully announcing Beacon to the world, which means the prequel chapters will finally be over.**

**This has been VerBeeker, signing off!**


	8. Reunion Part II

**And we're back with the final chapter of build-up, after this, ya gonna get a bit of a time skip and things are going to take off in some pretty interesting ways. Let's get into it, shall we?**

**Overwatch: Remnants Chapter VIII**

**Reunion Part II**

Jesse kept his head low as he left the diner, ignoring the burning crate and shattered stone scattered about him as he walked forward. Blake was a step behind, blade at the ready, her eyes scanning about the rubble with a worried glare.

As the dust cleared McCree spotted a bare-armed man with a biker's helmet atop his head and a yellow bandana covering the bottom of his face picking through an open crate. He almost daintily pulled out a belt of grenades and set them aside. He seemed too focused on the task at hand to hear their approach.

Jesse cleared his throat loudly as he got within a few steps of the man, Blake coming around from behind him with her sword pointing towards the ground.

"Huh?" the man asked, looking up at them. His eyes went wide as they traveled up Blake's blade and up to her cyborg features before he shot McCree a quick glance, did a double-take, and then bolted.

"Ashe!" he cried, stumbling as he raced away from them, disappearing into a cloud of smoke, "Ashe!"

McCree held in a sigh as he followed after him at a sedentary pace, "I was afraid of that."

"Afraid of what?" Blake asked, shooting him a probing look.

"She and I have a _fun_ little history." McCree muttered, "I was honestly hoping one of the others would take the bait."

"Bait?" Blake mouthed with narrowed eyes before shaking her head, "You were hoping that because?"

"They'd be less likely to shoot me," McCree muttered as he set his face in a determined grin.

"Less likely, as in they'd still try?" Blake queried with a flat tone.

McCree shrugged with a grin as he pulled out a cigar and put it in the corner of his mouth, "Probably."

"We got trouble!" the man cried as they exited the smoke, McCree getting eyes on two other men that looked fairly similar to the one shooting, and an Omnic carrying a sniper standing on the ridge above them. A hovering pallet was loaded up with several weapon crates, and a large ovoid capsule, a rush of joy filling his chest as he locked eyes on it. He instinctively went for the chip in his pocket as the woman standing beside it turned around and locked him with an intense glare, her deep red eyes burrowing into him.

Beside the pallet, a large omnic in a leather vest with a small bowler cap perched atop his head looked up and cocked his head slightly as he sighted McCree.

He saw Blake tense out of the corner of his eye but gave his head the slightest of shakes as she turned to look at him. She relaxed slightly, but the grip of the hilt of her blade never slacked.

"Jesse McCree," Ashe said, sounding a tad surprised, a hint happy and a hefty helping of suspicion, "Been a while. You promised you'd write."

"Well, Ashe," Jesse began as he lit his cigar and looked up at her, sending a playful wink her way as he did so, "I've been kind of busy."

"We're pretty busy ourselves," Ashe stated, resting Viper across her right shoulder and rolling her eyes, "So it's awful convenient you showing up here today."

Her eyes flicked over to Blake, "Who's your friend?"

Jesse gave Blake a side-glance, and a confident smile, "Oh her, she's a stray, just like the rest of us."

He looked upwards and gave the sniper a friendly wave, "Nice to see you again Bars."

He then turned to look at the triplets, "Nice to see y'all too, even I still can't tell which of you is which."

He finally turned to the large omnic and tipped his hat to him, "Bob, still stylish as ever."

Bob went to give him a nod back, only to freeze as Ashe sent him a piercing look.

"As for what I'm doing here, well you've never been one to shy away from a good tip." he finally answered, sending Ashe a snarky smile, pulling out his cigar and rolling it between his mechanical fingers.

"Hey!" she stated, taking a step forward, sliding her rifle back into her hands, "We worked hard for this score. The two of you best move on now."

McCree chuckled, as Blake shot him another questioning glance.

"All I want is that crate" he stated, pointing with his cigar at the white egg-shaped container, "Everything else is yours."

"This crate?" Ashe asked with false consideration, tapping it with her rifle, "Huh, Bob."

The Omnic jolted to attention, lifting an oversized hand, and pressing a button that caused the crate to open with a puff of cool steam. The two of them stare into the crate, Ashe's eyes widening slightly in awed confusion, while Bob's head cocked to the side.

"Well, well, now you got my attention," Ashe stated, as she turned back to McCree with a cunning smile.

"Get ready," McCree stated under his breath, so faint he knew Blake was the only one that would hear it. Her one antenna twitched in acknowledgment, but her posture didn't change. She stared straight ahead, her eyes locked on the now open crate.

"What is it?" Ashe demanded, her voice tinged with just a hint of an anger Jesse was well acquainted with.

"That's none of your business," he stated tersely.

Ashe stepped down from the pallet with gun in hand. She walked a few paces forward, setting her rifle into both hands before coming to a stop a few feet in front of the two of them.

"Well as I see it, it is very much our business," she said, her eyes narrowing.

Jesse let out a sigh as he set his cigar back into his mouth, "It doesn't always have to be this way, Ashe."

She took a few steps forward and cocked her rifle, "Apparently, it does."

Jesse let his hand fall down next to his holstered gun, as Blake fell into a loose fighting stance, pulling the bladed sheathe from her back and reforming her main blade into a kama.

Bob ripped the Route 66 street sign out of the ground and tested its weight as he squared up behind Ashe, the triplet they'd startled drawing both of his pistols and doing the same.

The other two took up positions behind them, Blake turning ever so slightly to face them as they raised their shotgun and rifle respectively.

Bars fell to his knee atop the rise, scoping in on the side of McCree's head.

The tension continued to rise, the only sound was the whistling of the air through the canyon, the dying fires of the explosion, and the end of his cigar.

A hawk cried out above them and the tension seemed to magnify even more. Ashe's eyes narrowed, a bead of oily sweat dripped down Bob's brow, Blake retightened her grip on her weapons.

Jesse locked eyes with Ashe, as he began to hear the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears, and the chip in his pocket suddenly felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.

Ashe and the Triplet raised their guns, but McCree shot first, ripping his hand cannon upward in a flurry of motion and sending off two shots. He dodged to the right as his shots caught the triplet in the hand, a sniper shot powered the ground in front of where he had just been standing.

Blake flipped into the air, sending her kama rocketing towards Bars, who rolled to the side and went to line up another shot.

"Come on!" Ashe yelled as the triplet stumbled into her from the momentum of the shot, his gun whirling through the air. She shrugged him off and then opened fire on McCree.

The other triplets opened fire, buckshot, and rifle bullet whizzing past the pair as McCree ducked low, and pulled a flashbang off his belt and tossed it towards Ashe and Bob. Feeling secure in their momentary blindness he whirled on the remaining triplets.

Blake let a clone take a hit from Bars as she slid across the ground, which propelled her even further forward, racing towards the one holding a rifle.

McCree meanwhile fired at a cable sitting between the two of them, which snapped causing one of the train cars above to careen downward. A cable snared around the rifle-wielding triplets leg and ripped him skyward as the train car swung downward nearly taking off the remaining triplets head off.

He ducked, bolting away, and Blake was on him in a second, taking his legs out from under him, smacking the shotgun aside so the panicked shot her fired off ate dirt and not her face and followed it up with a harsh kick to the side of his head which sent his eyes rolling.

The other triplet swung back and forth in a panic as Bars tried to line up a shot on McCree or Blake.

"Don't shoot!" he cried several times, as McCree used the distraction to lance a shot directly into Bar's chest, sending him off the ledge and into the ground in a heap.

The triplet continued to swing, fighting to grab hold of something, as Blake tossed her kama at him, he swung forward the combined momentum of his forehead meeting the weapon knocking him senseless.

She yo-yoed it back as Ashe opened fire, her shots cracking against several scattering boulders. McCree fanned his hammer down as well, firing several shots towards her.

Ashe went to duck, as Bob slid in front of her, the sign catching the bullets and one of his great hands coming up to grab hold of Blake's weapon.

Giving the pair a harsh glare he pulled Blake forward, swinging the sign like a bat hoping to catch her in the torso.

A clone took the blow as she fell to the ground, releasing her kama, and dodging a shot from the still-standing triplet, she whirled on him and McCree fought a laugh at how easily he cowed at her cybernetic almost catlike eyes.

"Bob, do something!" Ashe yelled.

The omnic tossed Blake's weapon and his impromptu club aside, readjusted his hat, and lifted his arm. Several ports opened up, six barrels emerging pointing directly at the back of Blake's head. She whirled around as he glared down at her, a look of surprise on her face.

McCree fired off a shot, catching Bob in the shoulder, shredding a part of his vest. The Omnic turned to look at him, immediately leveling his gun and opening fire from all six barrels.

McCree ducked down behind a boulder, as Ashe and the remaining triplet opened fire on Blake who flipped away from them, scooping up her weapon as she did so and after using a clone to deflect another hit bunkered down behind some crates across from McCree.

"Looks like Bob got himself some upgrades," McCree noted, tossing aside his cigar and letting the spent shells of his hand cannon spill out across the ground.

"So you going to explain why you're 'friends' are so quick to shoot us dead," Blake shouted.

"If we get through this, maybe." he returned with a grin.

"Smoke them out of there!" Ashe ordered, opening fire as Bob switched arms and the last triplet began to lay down his own fire.

McCree grimaced, and on instinct shot behind him, the small cry of surprise caused him to briefly shoot a look over his shoulder. Bars was slumped on the ground and Blake was looking at him with a slightly pissed expression.

"You didn't even look," she stated angrily.

McCree made to respond only for a bullet to crack through the stone right next to his ear and caused whatever snarky comment had been about to emerge to die in his throat.

"Last chance McCree!" Ashe shouted, another one of her shots shattering stone next to his head, "You and your little sidekick toss out your weapons!"

Grimacing slightly he shot Blake a look, who shook her head quietly and then pointed towards where the bundle of grenades was lying several steps next to her. She stalked across the ground slowly, hooking the blade of her kama carefully into the belt and giving him a nod.

"Alright Ashe," he said with a grin, "Here they come!"

Blake tossed the belt into the air, her grenades flying free as she ripped the belt backward.

"Oh shoot!" Ashe yelled, turning to run as McCree popped up over his hiding place and opened fire, catching the grenades square. The exploded in a detonation of fire, smoke, and force that sent a cloud of dust rippling back across him and Blake. His poncho was pushed back by the sudden breeze as was her hair as he mockingly spun his guna and slipped it back into the holster.

* * *

They'd gathered the Deadlock members, tying them up with rope McCree had scrounged up from somewhere, and set them atop the pallet after the cowboy had taken the crate they'd started a shootout over and placed it on the ground with an odd amount of care.

Blake watched quietly as McCree picked up Bob's head and set it softly down on a clump of rope.

"What." Ashe began as she emerged from unconsciousness with her hands bound, "What the…"

"McCree!" she yelled, sitting up and tugging at her bonds.

Ignoring her the cowboy placed Bob's hat back on his disembodied head, adjusting it slightly, "Sorry about that Bob. No hard feelings?"

The Omnic stared up at him wordlessly, before looking over at Blake with a roll of his eyes.

"McCree! Hey!" Ashe yelled, pulling even harder against the rope, "Untie me, McCree!"

"Say hi to the gang for me," McCree stated, still talking only to Bob, as he pressed a button. The pallet started up and began to drift away as Ashe continued to yell.

"I am talking to you!" she cried, her voice becoming quieter and quieter the further away the pallet moved, "I will not be ignored! I'm going to rebuild Bob and I'm gonna have him rip off your other arm! _McCree_!"

"Is that really how you lost your arm?" Blake asked with the ghost of a smile.

McCree chuckled his voice softer than she had ever heard, "No."

He stopped before the "egg" and tapped the button to open it, revealing a sleek white metallic form. Blake stared at it in wonder, as he pulled the chip from his pocket and set it into a slot in the very center of the shape.

The chip sealed to the body of what Blake quickly realized was an almost angelic looking Omnic body. A projector activated on the head, a blue holo-projection of a sleeping woman's face emerging. Her eyes flickered open and as she spotted McCree smiling down at her a wide grin crossed her face.

"Hi, there cowboy." the omnic stated.

McCree let out a soft laugh, and took off his hat resting it over his heart, "Welcome back, partner."

He reached out a hand to lift her out of the container which she took, their grip soft and comforting as he lifted her into the air. She floated there, the setting sun glinting across her pristine white form as she took in her surroundings but her eyes always seemed to travel back to McCree's face.

Her limbs were not fully connected to her torso, free-floating alongside it while a pair of smooth white wings projected from her back.

Blake noticed that even as she looked around, McCree never looked away from her, and she rested her hand in his almost naturally. Part of her felt like she should look away as if she was intruding on something very personal.

"Hmm...how long have I been gone?" the omnic asked.

"Far too long." he returned.

She looked down at his robotic hand for the first time, taking hold of it with both of hers, absentmindedly stroking it, "What happened?"

McCree laughed again, "Well that's a story for another time. But I got a call. They're getting the band back together. They want me, but really they need you."

They were silent for several moments before she looked up and gave him a kind smile.

"Since you have yet to give me a straight answer, how exactly am I supposed to find the others?" she asked with just the hint of a stink-eye.

"We're going to take you to them," McCree stated, looking over to Blake.

"We?" the omnic asked, turning and taking in Blake for the first time, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you."

"It's fine." Blake stated with a soft smile, nodding at McCree, "So you know this one huh?"

"Quite well." the omnic returned.

"Have you ever shot at him?" Blake asked with a joking smile.

"No-I-" she turned around and took in the smoking rubble behind them and then whirled on McCree, "Jesse what did you do?"

"I was trying to get you back!" he said with a half-offended grin.

"Mhm," she stated, turning back to Blake with a smile, "It is good to meet you…"

"Blake, you can call me Blake." she said, giving her a small grin.

"Blake, that's a lovely name." the omnic stated, "I am Echo."

"Well now that we've got introductions out of the way, it's time we get on the road," McCree stated, walking by the two of them.

"We're just going to hoof it?" Blake asked, crossing her arms.

"No, no, give me a minute," McCree stated with a smirk as he walked around the corner of the cliff face.

He returned several moments later, riding a red hover-cycle with a tacked-on black sidecar.

Blake immediately noticed Ashe's name on the key-fob and a worn picture of her and McCree, younger with wide devilish smiles on their faces. She shot McCree a questioning look, but once again he only had eyes for Echo.

"I think you're going to need to change things up." he remarked, "Just so we can fly under the radar on the way to Chicago."

"Understood, will this do?" Echo asked, as her entire body glowed blue and she was suddenly replaced with a copy of McCree who smirked at the original.

"Very funny, but no." McCree stated, leaning over the handlebars, "My face is already on quite a few bounty boards, having double is just gonna draw more attention."

"Very well, what about…" Echo looked at the picture on the speed motor and changed into a young Ashe, doing a twirl and then giving them both a pointed look, "Is this better?"

McCree let out an odd noise somewhere between a pained grunt and an affirmation that caused Blake's eyebrows to shoot into her hairline.

"I'll take that as a no," Echo muttered, tapping her chin as her body reformed again changing into a dark-skinned woman, with her hair pulled up into a bun though still dressed in Ashe's clothing.

"What about this Jesse?" she asked, looking up at him. Blake turned and saw a very pensive and somewhat mournful face looking back at them both.

"That works." he stated quietly, "Let's get going."

Blake climbed into the sidecar, as Echo slid onto the bike behind McCree. She slid her arms around his waist, causing the cowboy to tense slightly, but Blake didn't think she noticed. Giving McCree a curious look, she reached into her salvaged back and brought out the book about Sleeping Beauty. The cycle roared to life a moment later, the radio kicking on playing soft country music and they were off, heading towards Chicago, and the person McCree promised would take Blake in.

* * *

"Thank you all for coming today," Oz stated, his voice amplified by several speakers as he stood before a crowd of reporters standing within the plaza before Beacon Tower.

"Our world is on the brink of war, pushed further and further towards chaos every day." he continued, "Gangs run rampant the world over, Talon does as it pleases and Omnics once more march against the Kremlin. This Post-Overwatch era is not what the Petras act promised us, and while organizations like Helix and Atlas have stepped up to the plate to try and stem the tide of violence, there is one facet that has been ignored the world over.

He paused, looking across the crowd critically, "Remnant Trafficking, specifically the trafficking of Remnant children has gone on for far too long. They are being abused, abducted, and coerced all across the globe, and yet the UN has done very little to curb this egregious and corrupt evil that has crept into the corners of our planet."

"All the while these _children_ are being used as weapons by the likes of Talon, Los Muertos, even the resurgent Null Sector and numerous other vile organizations that have grown in strength since the fall of Overwatch." he stated, his tone cold, "While Atlas PMC has done an effective job of liberating and training Remnant children across Northern Europe, and Russia, in other locations such as here in the US they are being ignored, which has allowed Remnant Trafficking to skyrocket."

He paused once more, the flashes of several cameras lighting up parts of the crowd, "In response to this I am announcing a system that works to end these predations. In a month's time, the construction of Beacon Academy will be finished. The Academy will be a safe place for Remnant children to hone their abilities."

"My staff and I are fully prepared to give these children a life free of fear and oppression, while also teaching them in more than just the use of their abilities," Oz stated, gesturing behind him to a portion of his assembled staff. Glynda nodded to the crowd silently, Professor O waved, his manic green hair bobbing with the motion while Professor Port gave the crowd a jovial smile. Mei stood alongside them, looking more than a little nervous, giving the crowd a very quick wave.

Oz continued, "I should be noted that we are not alone in this endeavor, and I would like to announce that we have partnered with MEKA and Numbani to found other schools that will aid in the training and education of any bright, individual, Omnic, Remnant or otherwise that seeks to better themselves. I have been informed that the Adawe Academy in Numbani has already opened its new campus. I hope that Beacon and its sister schools will turn into the shining light that this world desperately needs. Any questions can be forwarded through my assistant, Ms. Goodwich."

With that Ozpin walked off stage, headed into a side room off the main atrium of the tower where Qrow, Tracer, and Winston were waiting.

"Nice speech boss." Qrow remarked, pointing his flask at the screen, "You really set them scrambling."

Already several reporters were barraging Glynda with questions, who was answering them with her usual grace and patience.

One question seemed to silence the barrage, as a reporter wearing the bright holobadge of the New York Times appeared on the screen.

"Mr. Oz stated that his school would be similar to Atlas's Recruitment Program, yet many believe that Atlas rescues Remnant children to add to their PMC forces eventually, not out of the innate altruism of their actions, will Beacon Academy prove to be any different?" the reporter asked.

Winston turned to look at Oz, "She has a point, at the end of the night, what is going to make Beacon any different from Atlas?"

Oz turned to look at him, with a soft smile on his lips, "I am not looking to make these children into soldiers, I'm hoping to turn them into heroes."

* * *

Oz's message was heard around the world.

Atop the very tower now hounded by the press, a duo that had become the trio watched the news with deep interest, as their names were listed off as the first admittees to Beacon.

Over the radio on a hovercycle with Blake listening intently, and trying not to sneak a peak at Echo resting her head against the awkwardly tense McCree's back.

On a corner in Paris, a young man with blonde hair stood watching the announcement with bated breath, a mixture of hope and sadness welling up in his gut.

In Busan, a red-haired girl battered a dummy while watching the news, calling a metallic bottle to her hand as she paused to take a drink of water.

In a small New York apartment, Ruby and Yang listened to the news enraptured, Yang's arm resting in a sling as she lounged on the couch while her younger sister darted around the room excitedly babbling about what this could mean.

Tai watched this with a mixture of bemused happiness and worry, as he heard a knock on his door. He opened it and froze as staring back at him was his daughter's uncle, Qrow Branwen.

He gave Tai a genuine smile, and took a sip from his hip-flask, "Long time no see, we need to talk."

Tai grimaced, but let him anyway Ruby's excited cry of surprise drawing a smile to his face.

* * *

In a dark warehouse, Torchwick leaned back in his chair as he heard the news.

"Putting them all in one place huh, that should make our job easier," he muttered.

"Just as she predicted." a sultry voice stated, "Now all we need to do is bid our time."

"Letting them learn how to fight though, to work together, won't that make things difficult?" Torchwick asked, as he picked up his Chinese food and began to poke around the box, "Especially since Overwatch is definitely tied to whatever the 'wizard' is up to."

"Teaching them how to be strong, to make them more effective in the battles to come it is an admirable goal." a gruff voice stated, from the corner of the computer screen, "One that we could easily turn to our advantage, but that also means it is time for me to return to the world."

"Numbani won't know what hit it." a snarky, Spanish accented voice stated as a neon purple sugar skull appeared on the screen.

"Neither will Chicago. Continue with the plans, reach out to the Fauns, stir up resentment amongst the Omnics, but do so after you relocate." the gruff voice stated, before cutting off.

"So kiddos," Torchwick asked with a snarky grin, as he whirled on the quiet trio of teenagers that were sitting off to the side, "How do you feel about prep life?"

**And scene!**

**So ends the prequel, and the Beacon Years begin the next chapter! Beacon is definitely going to come off more like Xavier's School, but that just means so many more shenanigans are going to kick off.**

**Any questions, comments, and critiques are always appreciated. This has been VerBeeker, signing off!**


	9. New Beginnings

**Let's get back into Remnants! The prequel chapters are done, from this point forward RWBY and Co will be on hand for a whole number of interesting shenanigans.**

**Beacon will admittedly be a bit more like the Mansion from X-Men/UA from My Hero then the school from the show, but I hope you enjoy it.**

**Overwatch: Remnants Chapter IX**

**New Beginnings**

**Lake Michigan, 12:00 EST**

Ruby was practically bouncing out of her seat as the boat chugged closer and closer to their destination.

"I can't believe this is happening!" she cried excitedly, smiling up at her sister.

Yang smirked and leaned back against the railing, head tilted backward to take in the late August sunshine. She still had a cast on her arm, covered with writing at this point from a number of friends back home, alongside several numbers and hearts that Ruby had yet to get an answer about.

"Me either." Yang agreed, sliding her sunglasses down and taking a look at the other teens sitting around them, "Still can't believe Dad agreed to let us come."

"Why not?" Ruby asked, tilting her head, "From what Uncle Qrow said Beacon is meant for us!"

Her sister grimaced, "I-yeah I guess so sis."

Ruby turned, eyeing several of the kids around them, there was a girl in really nice clothes with a beret and sunglasses who seemed to be staring directly at Yang as she lounged. Another girl with vibrant red hair in a red button-up top, black skirt and leggings, and brown boots was looking at the TV that sat near the front of the ferry with a pensive expression. Ruby's eyes finally tracked over to the blonde boy to her left who was hanging over the railing with nauseous expression.

"I wonder what they can do?" Ruby asked.

"Hmm?" Yang replied, pulling her shades down as she glanced at her.

"Well, they're Remnants," Ruby whispered, scooching closer to her sister, "Like us, so that means they have abilities, what do you think they can do?"

Yang spared a look at the other kids sitting around them, eyes lingering on the blonde boy, "Not sure but I think all he can do at the moment is lose his lunch."

There was horrid retching sound that sent Ruby scrambling into Yang's lap and away from the boy.

"See." Yang snarked.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, reaching out to him but not moving from Yang's lap.

"I'm fine." he wheezed out, giving her a weak smile only for his cheeks to bulge out again.

Ruby turned away, fighting to block out the sound of vomit hitting the water, and turned to look at the TV.

"Atlas is continuing to look into a terrorist attack on the Neo Smithsonian History Museum." the reporter stated, as CTV footage of a very familiar fight appeared on the screen.

"Yang," Ruby muttered, elbowing her sister in the center of the chest.

"Ow!" Yang objected, "What?"

Ruby pointed, drawing her sister's attention to the TV.

"Oh," Yang muttered.

"Talon Agents: Reaper and Widowmaker are still at large following the failed theft of the Doomfist gauntlet from Atlas custody." the reporter continued, "They were thwarted by former Agents of Overwatch Lena Oxton and Winston."

Images of all four named-individuals appeared as the reporter continued.

"All four individuals are wanted for questioning by Atlas authorities, despite the latter's seemingly noble actions."

"We commend the former Overwatch Agents for their decisive action," a brown-haired man in an Atlas uniform stated with an honest smile, "However, said action puts them in direct opposition of the Petras Act, and they must be reprimanded accordingly. Moreover, the Council questions why and how they came to be on Atlas in the first place. If they were aware of the plot, to begin with then why did they not contact the proper authorities?"

"If they had, civilians would not have been in harm's way." he finished.

The reporter reappeared, "Said civilians included a Remnant woman who intervened in the fight, aiding Oxton and Winston, endangering her own life. She has been identified as Yang Xiao Long, daughter of former Overwatch member Taiyang and Summer Rose. She and her sister were visiting the museum during the robbery attempt. A moment of random chance, or something more, we have the answers after this commercial break."

The screen shifted to a picture of Yang and Ruby with both of their parents as it cut to commercial.

Much of the boat was staring at them now, curious glances burrowing into them.

Ruby waved nervously while Yang gave them a smirk and leaned back into her previous position.

* * *

Weiss sat in one of the communal rooms, running a comb through her hair, fighting to focus.

"Today's the day," she whispered to herself.

The day where hundreds of new faces would appear at Beacon, who knows if any would recognize her.

She'd been "Winter" for several months now, and she honestly enjoyed it.

Ren and Nora treated her like family. A good one anyway, no orders, no demands, no snide comments. She didn't have to push herself as hard, there was still a training room, just like back at the tower but no one forced her to go to it.

She could train at her own pace, use her powers as she liked.

She exalted in freedom.

And now, now there was a chance that could all slip away.

Part of her felt guilty of course, her family was likely worried sick.

"Mother and Winter at least," she muttered to herself.

She'd thought about sending them a message for so long, but she had trouble thinking about what she would even say.

"_Sorry I let you think I've been kidnapped. I've just been living in Chicago with a group of total strangers for the past several months." _

On top of that, there would be her father's reaction.

"He'd make me come home," Weiss muttered, her hand clenching into a fist, "Or make me go back there."

"Go back where?"

Weiss jumped as Nora leaned over the back of the couch and slumped upside down into the seat next to her.

Ren followed in behind her, sitting down on the arm of the chair and giving Weiss a comforting smile.

"I-I was just thinking about where you found me," Weiss stated, not a lie but most definitely now the whole truth.

"No one is going to make you go back there." Nora stated, "They'll be in for a very bad day if they try!"

She punched her palm for emphasis before continuing, "You're one of us: Team Alpha-Beacon!"

Weiss shot her a confused look, "Team what?"

Ren spoke up, "She came up with it last night. We've been here the longest, the first of Oz's students, so naturally-"

"That makes us Alphas!" Nora finished, punching both hands into the air and then sliding fully off the couch and onto the floor.

Weiss laughed, before looking up at Ren who was grinning down at Nora, "Thank you."

"For?" he asked, giving her a questioning look.

"For helping me, taking me in," Weiss stated, looking away shyly and fixing her dress, "For making me feel like I belong."

"No need," Ren stated softly, as Nora leaped up and pulled Weiss into a tight hug.

"You're family Winter, of course you belong," Nora muttered as she playfully nuzzled Weiss's cheek, and gave Ren a look that commanded him to join the embrace.

He rolled his eyes and slid down to put one arm around both of them, only for Nora to grab him and drag him fully into the embrace, pressing his face against Weiss's.

"Perfect," Nora stated, missing Weiss's blush and Ren's small smile.

She released them both, hopping up onto the table and pointed out the door behind them, "Now, let's go see what the fresh meat looks like!"

With that, she tugged Weiss to her feet and bolted out the door dragging her along while Ren set off at a more sedated pace.

"Nora, I haven't finished with my hair!" Weiss cried, digging her heels in.

"Oh please, you look fine!" Nora cried, snatching the brush and tossing it back to Ren who caught it with a confused expression, "Side-ponytails are so in right now!"

Weiss found herself laughing, and picking up speed chasing after Nora, while Ren pocketed the hair-brush with another roll of his eyes.

* * *

Blake stood off to the side, in the shadow of an oak tree as the boats pulled in to dock.

She looked down at her hands for what must have been the fiftieth time, checking to make sure.

Sure enough, there was a pair of fully human hands, the disguise she'd been given holding strong.

* * *

"_You don't need to hide," Oz stated, giving her a comforting smile, "We would never judge you for what you are."_

"_But others might." Blake returned, "And I-I've done things that mean I probably should hide."_

_She'd gestured to her face then, lifting her other hand and glaring at the almost cat-like claws, "This could mean a lot of trouble for all of you here, and if you really want me here then that should stay a secret."_

_Oz has shared a look with his assistants, Glynda and Qrow while McCree stood behind her with a comforting smile. Echo was wrapped tight by a giddily smiling Tracer while Winston and Mei were seated nearby looking at her quietly._

_She'd been surprised to find three other fully-fledged Overwatch agents waiting for them at the meeting place, but to his credit, McCree had been shocked as well._

_In turn, they had been delightfully surprised to see Echo, which going by Tracer's tight embrace had not exactly worn off._

"_I might have an answer," Echo offered, suddenly taking on Blake's appearance, "I project the appearance of whomever I am mimicking as a hologram."_

"_We could use that programming to form a hard-light shell that could act a second skin." Winston continued, "That could definitely work for your disguise."_

"_For you as well." Oz had stated, giving Winston a pointed look._

* * *

Snapping out of her memory, she tensed slightly as several new arrivals began to make their way in her direction.

A very tall boy was milling about the crowd cautiously, looking like he wanted to join her out of the way of all the others.

A girl with a mane of golden hair and a girl with short black-and-red hair wandered past her, the former giving her a casual wave as they passed.

Blake froze when she spotted another Faun, long antennae almost rabbit-eared in shape, while her cybernetic legs bent backward in a similar lagomorph fashion. She was getting several piercing looks, many curious, a few angry, but they all backed up when another girl with a beret on walked over, threw an arm around her shoulder, and began talking to her loudly.

Blake slid into the crowd as they continued their way up the steps, making sure not to touch anyone.

The group finally came to a stop before a podium, where several early arrivals were milling about already. She spotted the trio from Oz's tower as well, though she had done her damndest to avoid them then, so she was just as much of a stranger to them as the rest of the assembling crowd.

Behind the podium, at the top of the stairs that lead into Beacon was Oz. Glynda stood to his right, while the school's faculty was arrayed behind them.

Professor O and Professor Port were near the center, the latter laughing at something the other had said, making them look like even more of a comedy duo than they already did.

The former was tall and lanky, with a wild mess of green hair dressed in a disheveled, coffee-stained white button-up, a yellow tie, and black pants. His wide glasses had a cracked lens.

Port meanwhile was short, with a comically large mustache dressed in a double-breasted burgundy suit with gold piping and buttons, similarly colored pants and olive boots.

Beside him was Mei, who was looking around with wide-eyes, she was dressed in a white button-up, a grey vest with a blue skirt and blue flats.

Winston, Echo, and Tracer wore disguises, the former two with Second-Skins like her.

Winston was an overly tall human man, with tanned skin, a large black beard, and glasses dressed in a lab coat over an orange turtle-neck, black pants, and shoes.

Echo was a dark-skinned woman with long black hair pulled into a high ponytail, dressed in a simple white t-shirt and khaki pants.

Tracer meanwhile had dyed her hair pink, shaved the sides, and was currently wearing a button-up black shirt, a red tie, and black dress pants. She gave the crowd a playful wave as Oz walked up to the mike.

"I'll make this quick." Oz stated, "You are all here because you are gifted individuals. Some of you feel as though that means you have a target on your back. Others have never thought about using their abilities because of fear, or warnings. A select few of you have exalted in your skills, and come here prepared for what lies ahead. This is a fresh start and rest assured, by the time you leave Beacon all of you will be prepared for whatever the world might throw at you."

He paused, scanning the crowd and she couldn't help but feel like he had zeroed in on her before moving on.

"This place will be your home for the next four years," he stated gesturing up at the main building, "And for some of you, that term might be met with skepticism. However, I promise that every single one of you will be safe within these halls. To that point, prejudice of any kind is not permitted and will be faced with immediate disciplinary action. Remnant, Omnic, Faun, or otherwise, you are here because deep down each of you believe you can be more."

Blake looked around and saw several kids nodding to his words and was actually shocked when she spotted an Omnic with red-plating directly to her left.

"You believe that you deserve a better future than the one being presented." Oz finished, "I hope that you find it, welcome to Beacon."

He stepped back from the microphone, Glynda stepping up to take his place.

"The rest of the day is yours to explore the campus and familiarize yourself with your fellow students." Glynda informed, "But first come up here to get your dorm and room number, you will be sharing a room with three other classmates. Yes, they are co-ed, and yes we will be monitoring for...escapades."

Lena and Port chuckled loudly at the severe glare she swept across the crowd of teenagers.

A series of holographic screens appeared, with a long list of names covering them.

The crowd immediately surged forward, carrying Blake with it.

She maneuvered to the front of the group and after a bit of searching found her room number.

She immediately slipped away, going to grab her things from the faculty building and transfer it over.

* * *

Jaune wandered through the halls, sending nervous waves to whomever he spotted. Most ignored him, while a few returned his greeting politely.

One bigger guy smirked at him and mimed puking, setting his ears burning in embarrassment.

"_This a mistake." _he thought suddenly, as he stared at the people around him, "_I don't belong here."_

He looked down at the duffel bag in his hands, feeling the weight of the weapons within and shook his head, trying to rid himself of his doubts.

He continued up another flight of stairs, counting off room numbers until finally finding his.

"This is it," he muttered, nervously reaching up and rubbing the cybernetics hidden beneath his mop of blonde hair, "What now?"

"Just keep being you Little Arc." a soft voice said in his ear, somewhat mockingly, "I'm sure they'll love you."

"Excuse me." a voice said, snapping him out of his concentration. He turned, spotting a girl with pale skin, white hair, and a scar across one of her ice-blue eyes, "But you're sort of blocking my way."

She pointed at the door he was standing in front of.

"Oh, sorry," he stated, taking a step back, then stopping, "Wait, this is your room?"

"It was," she stated, a bit of frustration in her voice.

"Aw, we could have been room-mates," he said with an attempt of a charming grin.

She stared at him flatly, "Sure."

She then opened the door, letting it hang open so she could follow him inside.

Sitting on one of the beds was one of the girls from the boat, vibrant red hair pulled into a high ponytail, who turned and looked at them both with a pleasant smile.

Sitting across from her was a shorter girl, with short orange hair, aquamarine eyes, and a slightly manic look on her face dressed in a grey t-shirt and pink shorts. Sitting beside her was a boy with long black hair, with pink eyes, dressed in a green shirt and white pants.

"Winter!" the shorter girl cried excitedly, then looking at Jaune, "And another new friend! Wait, I thought Glynda said there were only four to a room."

"There are." Winter stated sullenly, "They're moving me to another room."

"Why?" the boy asked.

Winter shrugged, moving over to pack up her things, Nora bolting up to give her a hug.

"I could take your room." the red-haired girl offered, "You shouldn't have to leave your friends."

Winter looked up at her and froze, "Y-you're Pyrrha Nikos."

"I am," Pyrrha stated with a slightly tight smile.

"No, I can't," Winter said with a shake of her head.

"I can switch." Jaune offered, drawing the other's attention.

"I-I don't want anyone to get in trouble." Winter said finally, "It's only just down the hall anyway."

"Well, that's not so bad," Nora said cheerily as she helped her pack, looking up to stare at Jaune, "So, what's your name, new roomie?"

"Jaune Arc." he replied with a smile, "Nice to meet you all."

"Likewise," Pyrrha stated, giving him another genuine smile.

"What was your name again?" Jaune asked, it having already honestly slipped his mind.

"Pyrrha Nikos," she said, sticking her hand out to shake his. He caught Winter giving him an odd look from her bed as he took the other girl's hand, "Just Pyrrha to my friends then."

"Alright, Pyrrha," Jaune returned, the girl flashing him a wide smile as he turned to look at the others, "What about you guys?"

"I'm Nora, that's Ren." the short girl stated, "We're a package deal."

Winter smiled, though her eyes were still downcast.

"But _we're_ still Team Alpha Beacon," Nora stated, hugging her tight and tapping Ren on the shoulder with her foot.

Jaune and Pyrrha shared a confused look.

"Don't ask," Ren stated, with a small grin, "You get used to her."

"Damn right you do!" Nora cried.

Winter closed her bag, and picked up her phone, before turning rather awkwardly and moving around Nora to look at Ren, "I'll leave you guys to get further acquainted."

"We'll be just down the hall if you need us," Ren said, standing up and placing a hand on her shoulder, "Alright?"

"Okay." she returned, with a slightly bashful smile. Jaune wasn't sure how to gauge that, but the voice in his ear let out an intrigued humming sound.

"Please need us!" Nora cried as Winter walked out the door, the other girl laughed and nodded her head as the door closed behind her.

"So…" Nora began, as she plopped down in Winter's old bed, "This is mine now, Ren can have mine, Pyrrha can have the one she's sitting in and Jaune-Boy you can have Ren's old one."

"O-okay," Jaune said, taken aback a bit by her sudden rambling.

"Do you two like pancakes?" she continued abruptly drawing a laugh from both of her new roommates.

* * *

Ruby and Yang entered their room, taking in several empty desks, a partially filled bookcase, two large windows that looked out on an inner courtyard and a pool, and four beds one of which was occupied.

She had long black hair, dressed in a long-sleeve black shirt with Lucio Album cover on the front, white pants, and black boots. A black bow sat atop her head, and as she looked up from the book she was reading Ruby was slightly taken aback by her large yellow eyes.

Yang plopped her stuff onto the bed directly next to the girl and sat down, looking at her.

Ruby opened her mouth just as the door opened, a girl with white hair in a side ponytail in a whitish blue skirt and jacket entering.

The girl froze, taking them all in, "Hello."

"Hi, I'm Ruby," Ruby stated with a friendly grin, sticking her arm out for a handshake.

The other girl took her hand slowly, and gave it one shake before stepping back, "Winter."

"I'm Yang, that half-pint's older sister," Yang called back to her, with a wave. Ruby stuck her tongue out at her sister, while Winter gave a cautious smile.

Yang turned back to the girl in the corner expectantly, sticking out her own hand, "What about you?"

The girl-eyed Yang's hand for a moment, closing her book and giving her a slight smile, "I'm Blake, and sorry, but I don't do handshakes."

"I get it," Yang stated, standing up, "I'm more of a hugger anyway."

Blake's eyes went wide, eliciting a laugh from her which caused Ruby to giggle.

"She's just teasing," Ruby said, some of the tension in Blake's posture melding away.

"Not entirely," Yang stated, suddenly scooping her little sister in a one-armed hug and spinning her around.

"Put me down!" Ruby cried with a laugh, the other girls watching with small smiles as Yang obliged tossing her onto one of the beds.

"Welcome to Beacon," Ruby muttered to herself, as she laid back and listened to Yang turn her teasing to Winter.

**And scene!**

**So, clearly a few things are going to be different this time around when it comes to relationships and story points.**

**Next time, the kids get to show off their skills for their teachers and peers.**

**As always comments, questions, and criticism are appreciated.**

**This has been VerBeeker, signing off!**


	10. Show and Tell Part I

**Time for the Talent Show!**

**Overwatch: Remnants Chapter X**

**Show and Tell Part I**

"Yang," Ruby stated, nudging her older sister on the shoulder as her alarm sang away. Their roommates were staring at the pair expectantly, Blake leaning against the door once again another black band t-shirt and jeans contrasting with the primly dressed Winter in her white blouse and blue pencil skirt. Winter was still getting ready, putting on makeup, though Ruby couldn't exactly figure out why.

"Yang!" Ruby stated more insistently smacking her sister on the shoulder, only earning a slight mumble for her trouble, "We're going to be late!"

"Is she always like this?" Blake asked with a slight smile.

Ruby sighed, "Yeah, she's not much of a morning person."

"Well showing up late to the first day of classes is not likely to win any of us any favors." Winter muttered, as she turned and looked at the clock, "We've got fifteen minutes at best."

Ruby grimaced, "I know how to wake her up. I'm just going to need one of you to hide me?"

Blake and Winter shared a look, the later speaking up, "Excuse me?"

Ruby didn't respond as she slowly raised her hand and placed it amongst her sister's long golden locks.

Her whole body tensed as if she had just walked into a minefield, but she was already committed.

She carefully laced her fingers around part of her sister's hair and pulled.

The effect was immediate, Ruby dashed across the room with a yelp as Yang rocketed into a seared position her hair igniting instantly.

"Ruby!" Yang roared, her normally lilac eyes, a deep angry crimson.

"Sorry!" Ruby cried, even as she cowered behind Winter, who looked more than a little offended at being used as a human shield by the younger girl.

"Why?" Yang demanded as she got out of bed and took a domineering step towards her younger sister.

"We were going to be late for class," Ruby muttered quieter than a church mouse as she tried to make herself even smaller behind Winter.

Yang sighed and took a deep breath, the fire dying away, and her eyes returning to a regular shade, "Give me five."

She retreated into the bathroom with her clothes a moment later, shooting her sister one more glare that promised an act of yet undecided revenge as the door closed.

"So, don't touch her hair is what I'm getting from this?" Blake snarked, shooting Ruby a look as she slid out from behind Winter.

"Yeah," Ruby muttered, "You should have seen what used to happen when our dad took us to get haircuts."

The quarter managed to grab food and coffee on the way to their first class.

World History with Professor O, the lanky green-haired man she'd thought looked something like a would-be mad scientist.

His bombastic personality combined with caffeine managed to keep her awake, as he outlined his intentions for the year, some of the others weren't exactly able to hang. Yang nodded off in the first several minutes her head hanging backward. The blonde boy Winter had called Jaune had his head down on his desk, while a girl she recognized to be Pyrrha Nikos seemed to be debating shaking him awake or not, her hand hovering above his left shoulder.

"In short students, my goal is to show you the successes and failings of the past," O stated, waving his mug towards the holo-board and accidentally spilling some across the floor.

"After all as the old adage goes, 'Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it'!" he cried, slamming his hand down on his desk so hard he jolted Yang awake so hard she fell out of her chair, while Jaune snapped upwards smacking himself in the face with Pyrrha's hand.

A smattering of chuckles erupted from the crowd, as Ruby knelt down to help her sister back to her seated position, and Pyrrha retracted her hand with a soft, "Sorry."

"Did you get that Mr. Arc? Miss Xiao Long?" Professor O asked, staring over his glasses at then both.

Ruby's excitement started to peter out as the day continued, she'd been promised a chance to show her skills to the rest of her classmates and see there's as well but instead this felt the same as her regular schooling.

She'd been elated to be taught by a former agent of Overwatch even though she hadn't known much about Mei prior.

Environmental Science and Chemistry were not something she exactly carried about, however. So the two-hour block of near boredom was only broken by Mei's adorable attitude, her little bot floating around the room at random intervals, and her demonstration of how she had escaped the Ecopoint as a demonstration of what you can do with a little scientific know-how.

Port's Class had followed, and hand to God Ruby didn't even understand what exactly it was the man taught. It might have been something to do with literature? He just seemed to ramble about different things, from personal diatribes, and random book or movie quotes to jokes that sent himself into a fit of laughter.

"Now remember kids," he said as the class came to a close, "Constant vigilance is the key!"

"Vigilance about what?" Yang cried as they walked out of the class, "I'm pretty sure he was quoting Gilbert and Sullivan at one point!"

Ruby giggled, as several of the other students nodded in agreement to her sister's rant.

Miss Melody's class had been sort of interesting, on the tin the class was supposedly about Robotics, but in practice as far as Ruby could tell it was going to end up being more like an art class with how Melody went about business.

Prof. Harold's class had been even better, one that she was actively interested in.

"This is less of a class and more of a workshop." Mr. Harold informed, pushing his rectangular glasses up his nose.

"Each of you has been gifted with unique abilities, or have skills that leave you apart from the rest." he continued, "But ability and skill can only get you so far and in some cases those of you who are Remnants may be hindered by your abilities."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yang rub the cast on her still-healing arm. She also noticed Winter and Jaune fidget slightly but she wasn't sure why.

"This 'class' will work to overcome those shortcomings if they exist," he stated, "And support your already extant gifts. We will be building things in this class, tech, support items, mechanisms that could funnel and amplify your power all in the pursuit of giving you the best amount of control you desire."

He grinned, "Right now however we're still just in the idea phase, so let's hear them!"

What had followed was a barrage of questions and weapon ideas, some of which he wrote down with a grin and a nod of his head while those that were a bit too wild or dangerous he would go into a one on one discussion with the perpetrator, while the others were told to sketch or write down any other ideas they had in mind.

Finally, the moment she had been craving arrived as she and her roommates followed the pack into a large outdoor arena.

* * *

Jaune stared around nervously as his fellow students continued to funnel in. His face still stung slightly from the accidental slap he'd earned from nodding off in class, but what stung even worse was the peel of laughter that had erupted in his ear as it had happened.

Pyrrha had apologized again and again since it had happened, but he'd laughed it off like it was nothing. She was sitting on his one side, dressed in a red t-shirt and a brown skirt while on the other side Nora was talking Ren's ear off.

"So what do you think we're actually going to be doing today?" Nora asked, "Trial by Combat? "A Marathon? Gun Kata?"

"Gun-what?" Jaune interjected, shooting his new roommate a confused look.

"I'm joking silly," Nora stated with a smirk.

"More than likely we are going to be asked to show or at least tell our abilities to our teachers," Ren stated, nodding down into the arena where Professor Harold, Professor Oswin, and Professor Glynda were standing. They were standing in the middle of a wide wooden circle, a ring of stands sitting at the cardinal directions, though only two of them seemed to be needed to account for all of the school's students.

"I think Glynda stated yesterday that we would be demonstrating what we could do," Pyrrha stated helpfully.

"_Oh good." _Jaune thought to himself with a growing sense of dread.

"Winter!" Nora cried out suddenly, startling Jaune out of his musings before they could even really begin. She had leaped to her feet and was waving frantically at the white-haired girl, who approached with a smile, her roommates following along behind her.

"Skooch!" Nora snapped at some of the people sitting next to them as the other girls approached. They immediately moved from the intensity of the glare Nora shot their way, which turned back into a vibrant smile as she whirled to meet Winter.

"Sorry!" Pyrrha called out with a nervous smile as the other students grumbled softly to themselves.

Jaune gave them a sheepish grin as well, before turning back to the new arrivals. Winter looked as nice as she had yesterday, and he felt a bit of a flutter in his chest as she walked past him and sat next to Ren.

Behind her were a shorter girl dressed in a black t-shirt and red pants with silver eyes and blackish-red hair that turned redder at the tips, a tall tanned golden-haired girl with an army jacket on over an orange t-shirt and khaki pants, and a dark-haired girl dressed like a rock fan with a black bow on her head and oddly yellow eyes.

"Winter!" Nora cried again, wrapping the other girl in a tight hug, "I missed you!"

"It's only been a day." Winter choked out as Nora hung onto her neck.

"I know but still!" Nora warbled, turning to acknowledge the other girls, "So these your new roommates?"

"Yes," Winter stated, as she finally pulled an arm free to gesture at the other girls, "In order, they're Ruby, her sister Yang and Blake."

Ruby waved, as she sat down next to Weiss, while Yang simply nodded with a grin, followed by Blake who kept quiet as the other two slid into seats next to the younger girl.

"Nice to meet you." Nora stated, before hugging Winter tighter to her, "Treat this one right or there will be consequences."

Every head in the combined group turned to look at Nora, Yang with a curious expression, Blake with her eyes narrowed, Pyrrha shocked, and Ruby looking a bit shell shocked.

"O-oh, we will," Ruby mumbled, wilting slightly under Nora's intense expression.

"Don't mind her." Ren stated, bowing to the new arrivals, "Nora means well, but she's a bit…"

"Intense." Winter offered helpfully.

"Yes," Ren said with a smile, "Anyway, my name is Lie Ren, the aggressive hugger is Nora Valkyrie, and the others are..."

"Pyrrha Nikos." the redhead offered, with her usual friendly smile. Jaune watched, Yang and Ruby's eyes widened slightly, while Winter made that awed expression she had yesterday that he still couldn't quite figure out.

"I'm Jaune," he stated, holding out a hand, which Ruby immediately took with a hand-shake while the other girls simply gave him a polite wave.

"Nice to meet you all." Ruby stated, "Are you guys excited?"

"For what?" Jaune asked, the voice in his ear muttering a quiet "Really?"

"To show off your abilities?" Ruby stated, bouncing in her seat, 'I'm so excited to see what everyone can do!"

Yang reached over and put a hand on her sister's head to stop her from shaking the bleacher, "Hope they're not expecting a grand show, I'm short-handed at the moment."

She lifted her cast covered arm with a snicker as Ruby groaned.

It was then Jaune recognized her, "Did Talon do that?"

The other's sitting beside him gave him a look excluding Pyrrha.

"I think he's talking about what you did at the Neo Smithsonian," Pyrrha stated.

Yang's expression grew partially hardened but also even wider as if she was getting excited just thinking about it, "No, this was me. She didn't know what hit her."

She mimed a punch and laughed, while Ruby rolled her eyes.

"That was very brave of you." Blake stated, giving Yang a once over, "It must have taken a lot to stand up to them as you did."

"It did." Yang admitted, "But that's why I'm here. To make standing up easier."

Pyrrha went to open her mouth, only for the sound of Glynda's voice to cut her off.

"Good afternoon everyone," she began, "I hope your first day at Beacon has been a good one, but I sense that for many of you it has just been an obstacle to what we are doing now."

"This is going to be the first introduction the staff and most of your peers have to your abilities, so it is understandable if some of you don't wish to be put on the stand today." she continued, "However the staff at least will need to be informed of your abilities so we can cater to you when it comes to your individual training. You will become very familiar with this arena in the coming years, as you hone your skills to the best of your ability."

She tapped something on her wrist, and suddenly several walls emerged from the ground, made of what appeared to be glass, forming an octagonal dome around the central area. With another tap, a series of drones emerged floating in the back of the dome.

"The arena is modular and can take many forms, which I will see fit to challenge you all within the coming days." Glynda stated, "But for today this will suffice. Of course, the arena does not supplant regular physical activity, which is why Ms. Oswin is here to see how far she can push you all."

"That seems like a bit too dire a way of putting it." Ms. Oswin joked, earning a few laughs as she looked around at the students, "We're gonna have fun, I promise."

"As for Professor Harold, he is here to get a good idea of what support items may be needed for you all." Glynda continued, "Not all of you will have had him for class at this point, however, this might prove a boon in his workshop. He will also be handing out shields for the final demonstration."

"I look forward to seeing what all of you can do," he stated with a sincere smile.

"So with that out of the way," Glynda stated, as a door opened at the front of the walled arena, "Who would like to go first?"

The following silence could have been cut with a rusty butter knife, as the student body looked amongst themselves, stage fright seeming to grip the entire student body bar one.

Nora Valkyrie leaped to her feet, with her arm high in the air and continued hopping as if fighting to catch Glynda's attention.

There was a smattering of laughs at Glynda's raised eyebrow.

"Nora Valkyrie, it seems as if you are made of sterner stuff than your classmates," Glynda remarked as the girl darted down the bleachers and into the arena.

"Oh, _we_ already knew that Professor," Nora joked, as she whirled about and bowed to her classmates in an overly theatrical manner.

Ren smiled softly while Winter laughed from behind her hand.

"Hi, I'm Nora," she began with a wave that elicited a smattering of laughs, "Imma a Remnant, and well my ability is a much better show than it is a tell."

And then she whipped out a taser and held it against her neck.

Jaune stood up in his seat, as several students gasped and winced as Nora kept the button pressed down, the sound of crackling electricity filling the arena.

"What is she doing?" Jaune asked aghast, turning to look at Ren and Winter.

Winter looked less shocked than him, but she still winced as Nora jolted slightly from the continued spark of electricity.

Ren looked up at him, "Just watch."

Blake had sat forward with a curious expression while Yang and Ruby were sharing worried glances.

Suddenly Nora dropped the taser, and flexed, pink lightning crackling across her entire body for a second before she whirled and uppercut one of the drones. Its head came off with a loud shearing sound and shattered against the top of the arena in a rain of scrap metal and ruined plastic.

Nora then turned around as the pink lightning dissipated and went into a deep, flourishing bow.

"So what did you think?" she asked, as several of her classmates actually began clapping for her demonstration.

"That I want the next demonstration not to be so panic-inducing." Prof. Harold stated as he lifted a hand to his heart.

Glynda nodded at Nora appreciatively and turned to face the crowd, "So who's next?"

There was a flurry of hands, followed by people standing all around him as he sat back down, fresh worry gnawing on his brain.

The was a red-colored omnic named Faux who didn't fight but instead yelled "Boo!" in the mind of every person in the arena, earning more than a few swears, screams, and jumps from his audience.

Ruby was up shortly after, racing around the arena like a rocket, even leaving the ground at one point and just becoming a spinning whirlwind of red as she ping-ponged off the side of the arena. Jaune thought she might have purposefully overdone herself as she slid to a stop, and immediately teetered over with a woozy expression on her face.

Then came the girl in the beret that introduced herself as _the_ Coco Adele. She asked for a gun of some kind, and after a bit of deliberation Glynda agreed, Prof. Oswin darting away and returning with a paintball gun. Adele walked into the arena, lowered her sunglasses slightly, shot the crowd a smirk, and then shattered the eye-piece of three drones as the gun in her hand began to glow.

Winter followed, creating brilliant sigils of hard light shaped like snowflakes, darting around the arena like an ice-skater as she propelled herself along. She finished by creating a holographic snow shower that flickered out as it touched her fellow students.

They were all amazing, and as more and more students stood up to take their turn Jaune's gut tightened harder and harder.

Eventually, it was going to be his turn, he rubbed the back of his head, feeling the electronics attached to his skin.

"_I'm a fake."_ he thought, thinking about trying to slip away just as Ren stood up and walked down into the arena.

At first, it appeared like nothing changed, as Ren lowered tapped something on his wrist. The light seemed to warp around him for a second, but it wasn't until Glynda used her tablets to bring up several holo-screens that Jaune noticed what he had done.

He could see Ren just fine, but it appeared as if he simply wasn't there on the holo-screens, he then darted at the drones, two blades of hard-light emerging but the drones didn't seem to notice he was there either.

A second later two were in sparkling pieces on the ground, and Ren deactivated his cloak, blinking into existence on the holo-screens.

"See," the voice stated with a chuckle, "He's using tech, you're gonna be fine."

He grimaced slightly as Pyrrha stood up next to him, and made her way down.

"Hello everyone, you might know this already but I'm Pyrrha Nikos," she stated, which elicited a much bigger reaction than Jaune figured it would. A smattering of claps, cheers, and one wolf-whistle that earned a hunting glare from Glynda went up.

Pyrrha ignored the noise and continued, "And my ability is Magnetism."

She gestured with a hand and the drones lifted off the ground, twirling about, joined by the missed remnant of their destroyed fellows. She closed her eyes and lifted her other hand, and the arena itself began to lift off the ground, followed by the bleachers, eliciting shocked and elated gasps from the crowd. It was only a few inches, but it still shocked Jaune as she set everything back down without even a rumble.

"I've never seen anything like that." Jaune stated, "How is she so strong?"

Winter shot him a look, "You really don't know who she is do you?"

"Should I?" Jaune asked, shooting her a confused expression.

He suddenly felt eyes on him from every direction as all of Winter's roommates turned to look at him as did Nora and Ren.

"She's a celebrity." Winter stated, "She used her powers to help people after an earthquake, she's won three of Greece's Neo-Spartan Championships, it's said she was being scouted to join Greece's Olympics Team. None of that rings a bell?"

"Uh...no," Jaune said with a nervous shrug.

"She's on the front of Pumpkin Pete Cereal," Winter said flatly, looking slightly offended at the elated gasp he let out.

"That's her?!" he asked excitedly.

Yang snorted, while Nora and Ruby broke out into a laughing fit as Pyrrha walked up behind him.

"That's who?" she asked, shooting them a confused expression.

"Jaune just got a little history lesson." Yang offered helpfully, hiding her smile behind her hand.

"Oh?" Pyrrha asked, sitting down beside him, "About what?"

"How did you get to be on the Pumpkin Pete cereal box?" Jaune asked suddenly, eliciting more laughter.

"W-what?" Pyrrha asked, laughing slightly, giving him a befuddled smile.

"Pumpkin Pete, like the world's best cereal, that's you on the box right?" Jaune stated very seriously, smiling slightly as her own grew a bit more.

"I-yes-they asked me to sponsor them," she stated.

"Huh, that's pretty cool," Jaune stated, turning to look at the others who were staring at him like he'd grown a second head, "What?"

Yang opened her mouth to say something, only for Glynda to cut across her.

"We're coming near the end of today's allotted time, so the demonstrations will have to continue tomorrow. However, we have enough time to demonstrate the second usage of this arena. Sparring."

The drones disappeared back into the ground, and the top of the dome retracted.

"You will not just train against drones, but your fellow students as well. I will not be taking volunteers for this part of the course today, but in the future participation will be mandatory and volunteering is to be expected. The selection of today's combatants will be randomized, as befits an actual combat scenario. However, it should be noted that all sparring matches are till shields are broken, purposeful injury of another student will never be accepted."

The crowd went silent as the holo-screens began cycling through images with a sound similar to that of a game show wheel.

"Blake Belladonna," a robotic female voice called out, "Vs. Jaune Arc."

Jaune froze as he felt Blake's golden eyes fall on him from around her roommates.

"Well this should be fun." the voice in his ear snarked as he felt even more eyes fall on him.

Jaune once more fought the urge to puke.

**And scene!**

**Next time, Jaune vs Blake, both are hiding things from their fellows, who do **_**you**_ **think will win!**

**As always any comments, questions, or critiques are appreciated.**

**This has been VerBeeker, signing off!**


	11. Show and Tell Part II

**Blake vs Jaune, let's see how this plays out shall we?**

**But first, I am returning to School for the fall, and it appears as if I am going to have a great deal on my plate. This means that my posting for all of my stories will slow if not cease for the next three months, my apologies, but I will try and return to this and the others stories when I can, thank you.**

**Overwatch: Remnants Chapter XI**

**Show and Tell Part II**

Blake stood up, feeling the eyes of her fellow students burrowing into her, and now more than ever she hoped her disguise wouldn't glitch, but she kept her face in a coached veneer of calm.

Her opponent meanwhile looked like he was about to vomit, his face a cocktail of confused panic.

"Professor Goodwitch, will we be using our own weaponry?" she asked, earning a smattering of exciting muttering, while Jaune whipped his head towards her so quickly she heard his neck crack.

"Not for this demonstration." Glynda stated, "We have several hard-light training weapons that will be used today, and in the future unless stated otherwise."

Blake nodded, and made her way down the bleachers, while Jaune seemed to have been rooted to his seat.

She turned back to look at him, and saw Nora, literally dragging him out of his seat, and then pushing him out onto the steps, he shot her a dirty look before following after Blake at a very sedated pace.

"Good luck!" Nora called out, and Blake heard Jaune mutter in response, "Thanks, I'm going to need it."

As they reached the arena, she looked up at Winston, who smiled at her his disguise exuding the same kind of goofy warmth that he seemed to regularly.

"Here you two are," he stated, as he passed out two small rectangles, "ARA Shields, I will want them back after the sparring session."

"Yes, sir," Jaune muttered, still looking like he was on the verge of a panic attack as he attached the shield to his belt above his hip.

Blake attached her's to her left shoulder, a bubble of blue energy appearing for a second before retracting into a halo that covered both of their forms.

"Now come take your pick!" Lena cried, with a bit of showmanship, gesturing to the hovering tables that had risen out of the floor beside her. Several white metal hilts, and discs laid across the table.

Blake immediately picked up two hilts, flicking them in a manner she figured would be a bit too familiar for a student, the dulled hard-light blades extending and taking on an appearance that was similar enough to her main blade.

Jaune meanwhile stared at the tables for a few seconds more, before picking up one of the larger hilts, and one of the disks. A vaguely longsword-looking blade emerged from the hilt while the disk extended into a hard-light shield.

"Whenever you are both ready," Glynda stated, as the arena's door opened beside her. Blake entered immediately, while Jaune sucked in a deep intake of air and then blew it all out again before following after her.

She whirled on him, holding both blades pointed towards the ground, while he stuttered to a stop, holding his sword a bit more uncertainly.

"On my mark," Glynda said, as a holographic screen appeared between them and began to count down, "3, 2, 1, Commence!"

Blake lunged forward, flashing through the screen before it even had time to fully disappear catching Jaune fully by surprise. Her first blow caught him in the side as she managed to strike beneath his unsteady shield, the second he just barely managed to parry as she aimed at his shoulder.

He stumbled backward, his eyes an odd mix of resolve and fear. He planted his feet and raised his shield before him, his sword hanging down at his side.

She struck again.

* * *

Jaune was screaming, internally at least, as Blake landed a kick directly in the center of his shield and pushed him back several feet, and while he was unbalance slapped him in the back with the flat of one of her practice weapons.

His shield sparked, and he reeled away, ears burning in frustrated embarrassment as he counter-attacked only for her to easily dodge away.

He could feel the eyes of all of his classmates on him, especially his roommates and Winter's friends. He could hear a few laughs and a rumble of conversation that seeped into his head over his own beating heart as Blake continued to stalk around him, almost catlike in her stance.

She knew what she was doing.

He didn't have a clue, and it was definitely showing as he shot a side-glance at the teachers who were watching them both intently. Glynda's eyes were narrowed slightly as she watched his stance.

Blake darted in during that moment of hesitation, and before he knew it she had kicked his legs out from under him and he was now lying on his back.

She looked down at him as he laid there stunned, "You've never fought before, have you?"

"_Well yeah, I'm a fraud."_ he thought to himself bitterly, while out of his mouth came, "I mean, I've fought, a little bit...I'm just waiting for the right moment."

"Uh-huh," Blake stated, as she went to strike him in the chest. He raised his shield to protect himself and closed his eyes, bracing for the impact.

"Seems like the right time." the voice in his ear stated, and he felt a sudden surge of energy, his eyes snapping up, with a brief flash of neon purple light glowing from within.

Blake struck down and he surged upwards, throwing her into the air further than he ever should have been able to manage.

She twisted in the air and landed across from him, her head cocked to the head slightly as he surged to his feet.

"Told ya," he said with a surprised smile, to which Blake smirked slightly.

She darted forward, searching for an opening, but he found himself actually able to keep up with her attacks, his shield becoming an actual barrier her blows reflecting off it with a flash of light.

"_Just like Grandad." _he thought to himself, as he lunged forward from behind his shield, actually managing to score a hit against Blake, who slid backward.

He began to advance towards her, his body still surging with energy that he knew wasn't his, but it felt good regardless.

He failed to notice the cracks appearing in his shield until Blake suddenly struck forward in a spinning blow, her first blade deflecting off the shield while the second punched through it shattering it with a sound like breaking glass.

He blinked in surprise and just managed to duck her next strike.

"I can help you fight." the voice-in-his-ear stated, "But that doesn't mean I'll help you win."

He struck at Blake, as he fought to ignore the voice, and was taken aback as his blade passed right through her.

His brain malfunctioned for a second as he tried to rectify what had just happened when Blake vanished like smoke around his blade, and what he could only assume was the real Blake caught him in the side of the face with a punch.

There was a blaring siren as he went down, still stunned and confused by her moves, and as the abnormal energy faded he felt incredibly tired on top of that.

"And the math goes to Blake Belladonna." a robotic female voice called out.

Jaune looked up, his eyes suddenly focusing on an outstretched hand that turned out to be attached to an ever-so-slightly smiling Blake.

"Thanks." he stated as she helped him to his feet, "That was a mean trick by the way."

Blake shrugged, "You have your abilities and I have mine, but you're welcome."

The door opened, Glynda ushering them both out, "You both need work, Mr. Arc more so than you Ms. Belladonna but still it was a good first demonstration. A round of applause perhaps for these two?"

She turned to the crowd, a smattering of claps beginning that was immediately drowned out by Nora's cheering and a few supportive cries from Blake's roommates.

"That will be all for today everyone," Glynda stated to the student body, "You are free to do what you wish for the rest of today, within reason."

She stated the last part with a glare she swept across the entire crowd as they began to disperse almost immediately.

Jaune sighed in relief that it was over, and grimaced at the sudden burst of hunger and exhaustion that was coursing through him, while Blake turned as both groups of their roommates came rushing over.

"That was so cool!" Ruby cried, bouncing up and down on her heels as she skidded to a halt.

"Thanks," Blake muttered, a bit taken aback by her room-mates emphatic reaction.

"Cool?" Jaune questioned, shooting Ruby a side-eye, "Really?"

"I mean you were getting your butt handed to you without question for a lot of that fight, but that second wind you got was pretty nice." Nora stated, tapping her chin, "Is that your Remnant thingie?"

"Uh...yeah." Jaune lied, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Well, even if it was your first time fighting in an arena you both did quite well," Pyrrha stated, smiling at both of them genuinely.

Jaune shot her a smile, while Blake nodded.

"I get the feeling it wasn't Blake's first time though," Yang stated, as she threw her arm around her roommate, who froze and looked ready to immediately squirm away, "Am I right?"

"Arena yes, fighting no," Blake stated as she pulled herself free of Yang's grasp.

"So what do you guys want to do now?" Ruby asked, staring around at all of them.

"All of us?" Ren asked evenly.

"Well...yeah." Ruby returned with a smile.

"Professor Goodwitch did say we have the rest of the day to ourselves," Winter said, stepping up next to him with a smile, "And we're allowed to go into the city using the ferries, so why don't we go find someplace to eat."

"That sounds incredible," Jaune stated, freezing as his stomach made an audible growling noise.

Yang, Ruby and Nora cracked up a bit at his sheepish expression, while Pyrrha hid a smile behind her hand.

"Food it is then," Yang cried, pointing out one of the archways, "To the docks!"

"Wrong way," Blake muttered with a smirk.

Yang blinked, and turned cautiously, "To the docks!"

"There we go," Blake said, as the group fell in beside each other. Winter was talking to Ren about their abilities, Ruby was rambling to a bemused looking Pyrrha about what kinds of hard-light weapons were available to be used. Yang was at the head of the group with a large smile on her face, Blake a step behind being a bit quiet.

"So Jaune," Nora began, turning around and walking backward as he brought up the rear, "Do you think you could pull off that throwing move for an ally?"

"Um...maybe." he returned.

"Perfect," Nora said, a bit ominously as she turned around, Ren catching Jaune's eyes and shaking his head in mutual confusion.

Jaune smiled slightly as he stared up the line of new friends he'd made, and tried to once again ignore the feeling of being a fraud and the aching pain in the back of his head.

Likely the first of many headaches moving forward.

**And scene!**

**Next time...well admittedly, I am unsure, either a night on the town or more school life for the gang. **

**Once again any comments, questions, and critiques are always appreciated. See you all...when I can again.**

**This has been VerBeeker, signing off!**


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